Neonatal Gaucher disease presenting as persistent thrombocytopenia.

Mutations in the beta-glucocerebrosidase gene cause Gaucher disease with the type 1 variant generally presenting later in life with mild disease and type 2 in infancy with severe neuronopathic symptoms. We describe a neonate homozygous for the D409 H mutation with thrombocytopenia, splenomegaly and cholestasis at birth as the major features.

Proteomic studies identified a single nucleotide polymorphism in glyoxalase I as autism susceptibility factor.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disability characterized by deficits in verbal communications, impairments in social interactions, and repetitive behaviors. Several studies have indicated strong involvement of multigenic components in the etiology of autism. Linkage analyses and candidate gene search approaches so far have not identified any reliable susceptibility genes.

Mutational analysis of the defective protease in classic late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder.

The late-infantile form of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (LINCL) is a progressive and ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disease of childhood. The defective gene in this hereditary disorder, CLN2, encodes a recently identified lysosomal pepstatin-insensitive acid protease. To better understand the molecular pathology of LINCL, we conducted a genetic survey of CLN2 in 74 LINCL families.

A novel assay for lysosomal pepstatin-insensitive proteinase and its application for the diagnosis of late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.

A highly sensitive assay for mammalian lysosomal pepstatin-insensitive proteinase (LPIP) is described using a synthetic peptide substrate coupled to aminotrifluoromethyl coumarin (AFC). LPIP is an endocarboxyl proteinase which has specific sequence requirements of Phe-Phe around the carboxyl terminal. This HPLC based assay can detect patients suffering from late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (LINCL) and also heterozygote carriers in cultured lymphoid cells and skin fibroblasts.