Mutations in DARS Cause Hypomyelination with Brain Stem and Spinal Cord Involvement and Leg Spasticity
Inherited white-matter disorders are a broad class of diseases for which treatment and classification are both challenging. Indeed, nearly half of the children presenting with a leukoencephalopathy remain without a specific diagnosis. Here, we report on the application of high-throughput genome and...
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Published in | American journal of human genetics Vol. 92; no. 5; pp. 774 - 780 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Elsevier Inc
02.05.2013
Cell Press Elsevier |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Inherited white-matter disorders are a broad class of diseases for which treatment and classification are both challenging. Indeed, nearly half of the children presenting with a leukoencephalopathy remain without a specific diagnosis. Here, we report on the application of high-throughput genome and exome sequencing to a cohort of ten individuals with a leukoencephalopathy of unknown etiology and clinically characterized by hypomyelination with brain stem and spinal cord involvement and leg spasticity (HBSL), as well as the identification of compound-heterozygous and homozygous mutations in cytoplasmic aspartyl-tRNA synthetase (DARS). These mutations cause nonsynonymous changes to seven highly conserved amino acids, five of which are unchanged between yeast and man, in the DARS C-terminal lobe adjacent to, or within, the active-site pocket. Intriguingly, HBSL bears a striking resemblance to leukoencephalopathy with brain stem and spinal cord involvement and elevated lactate (LBSL), which is caused by mutations in the mitochondria-specific DARS2, suggesting that these two diseases might share a common underlying molecular pathology. These findings add to the growing body of evidence that mutations in tRNA synthetases can cause a broad range of neurologic disorders. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-1 These authors contributed equally to this work |
ISSN: | 0002-9297 1537-6605 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.04.006 |