Identification of a candidate modifying gene for spinal muscular atrophy by comparative genomics
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a common recessive disorder characterized by the loss of lower motor neurons in the spinal cord. The disease has been classified into three types based on age of onset and severity 1 . SMA I-III all map to chromosome 5q13 (Refs 2 , 3 ), and nearly all patients displa...
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Published in | Nature genetics Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 83 - 86 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York
Nature Publishing Group US
01.09.1998
Nature Publishing Group |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a common recessive disorder characterized by the loss of lower motor neurons in the spinal cord. The disease has been classified into three types based on age of onset and severity
1
. SMA I-III all map to chromosome 5q13 (Refs
2
,
3
), and nearly all patients display deletions or gene conversions of the survival motor neuron (
SMN1
) gene
4
,
5
,
6
,
7
. Some correlation has been established between SMN protein levels and disease course
8
,
9
,
10
; nevertheless, the genetic basis for SMA phenotypic variability remains unclear, and it has been postulated that the loss of an additional modifying factor contributes to the severity of type I SMA. Using comparative genomics to screen for such a factor among evolutionarily conserved sequences between mouse and human, we have identified a novel transcript,
H4F5
, which lies closer to
SMN1
than any previously identified gene in the region. A multi-copy microsatellite marker that is deleted in more than 90% of type I SMA chromosomes is embedded in an intron of this gene, indicating that
H4F5
is also highly deleted in type I SMA chromosomes, and thus is a candidate phenotypic modifier for SMA. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 1061-4036 1546-1718 |
DOI: | 10.1038/1753 |