AI Article Synopsis

  • Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is an X-linked neuromuscular disorder linked to an expanded CAG repeat in the androgen receptor gene.
  • A unique case of a 29-year-old patient with 68 CAG repeats revealed early onset symptoms and additional issues not typically seen in SBMA patients.
  • The study's findings highlight both typical SBMA deficits and novel manifestations, enhancing understanding of the disease's progression related to the mutated androgen receptor.

Article Abstract

Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is an X-linked neuromuscular disease caused by a trinucleotide (CAG) repeat expansion in the androgen receptor gene. Patients with SBMA have weakness, atrophy, and fasciculations in the bulbar and extremity muscles. Individuals with CAG repeat lengths greater than 62 have not previously been reported. We evaluated a 29year old SBMA patient with 68 CAGs who had unusually early onset and findings not seen in others with the disease. Analysis of the androgen receptor gene confirmed the repeat length of 68 CAGs in both peripheral blood and fibroblasts. Evaluation of muscle and sensory function showed deficits typical of SBMA, and in addition the patient had manifestations of autonomic dysfunction and abnormal sexual development. These findings extend the known phenotype associated with SBMA and shed new insight into the effects of the mutated androgen receptor.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4252652PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nmd.2014.06.441DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

cag repeat
12
androgen receptor
12
early onset
8
spinal bulbar
8
bulbar muscular
8
muscular atrophy
8
receptor gene
8
sbma
5
onset novel
4
novel features
4

Similar Publications

CAG/CTG repeats are prone to expansion, causing several inherited human diseases. The initiating sources of DNA damage which lead to inaccurate repair of the repeat tract to cause expansions are not fully understood. Expansion-prone CAG/CTG repeats are actively transcribed and prone to forming stable R-loops with hairpin structures forming on the displaced single-stranded DNA (S-loops).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Huntington's disease is a genetic disorder characterized by progressive neuronal cell damage in some areas of the brain; symptoms are commonly associated with chorea, rigidity and dystonia. The symptoms in Huntington's Disease are caused by a pathological increase in the number of Cytokine-Adenine-Guanine (CAG) repeats on the first exon of the Huntingtin gene, which causes a protein to have an excessive number of glutamine residues; this alteration leads to a change in the protein's conformation and function. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to design, synthesize and evaluate an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO; 95 nucleotides) HTT 90-5 directed to the Huntingtin CAG repeats in primary leukocyte culture cells from a patient with Huntington's Disease; approximately 500,000 leukocytes per well extracted from venous blood were used, to which 100 pMol of ASO were administered, and the expression of Huntingtin was subsequently evaluated at 72 h by RT-PCR.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Huntington's Disease (HD), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with no disease-modifying therapies, is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the HD gene encoding polyglutamine-expanded huntingtin (HTT) protein. Mechanisms of HD cellular pathogenesis and cellular functions of the normal and mutant HTT proteins are still not completely understood. HTT protein has numerous interaction partners, and it likely provides a scaffold for assembly of multiprotein complexes many of which may be altered in HD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the HTT gene, leading to altered gene expression. However, the mechanisms leading to disrupted RNA processing in HD remain unclear. Here we identify TDP-43 and the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) writer protein METTL3 to be upstream regulators of exon skipping in multiple HD systems.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Substantia nigra degeneration in spinocerebellar ataxia 2 and 7 using neuromelanin-sensitive imaging.

Eur J Neurol

January 2025

Institut du Cerveau-Paris Brain Institute ICM, Sorbonne Université, Inserm 1127, CNRS 7225, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière Paris, Paris, France.

Objective: Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) are neurodegenerative diseases with widespread lesions across the central nervous system. Ataxia and spasticity are usually predominant, but patients may also present with parkinsonism. We aimed to characterize substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) degeneration in SCA2 and 7 using neuromelanin-sensitive imaging.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!