CAG repeats of CTG18.1 and KCNN3 in Korean patients with bipolar affective disorder

BACKGROUND: Trinucleotide repetition combined with variable penetrance of expression could be responsible for the complex transmission pattern observed in bipolar affective disorder (BPAD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of excess longer allele of KCNN3 and CTG18.1 in the patients with BPAD. METHODS: CAG/CTG repeat distribution in KCNN3, CTG 18.1 and ERDA1 was examined and the copy number of ligation product in repeat expansion detection (RED) was measured in Korean bipolar patients in comparison to ethnically matched healthy controls. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in the allele distribution of those repeats between bipolar patients and controls. Ligation product size in RED was not increased in bipolar patients. However, the copy number of ligation product in RED was highly correlated with CAG/CTG copies of ERDA1 (P=0.0001), partly with CTG 18.1 (P=0.04), but not with KCNN3. CONCLUSIONS: A longer CAG repeat alleles of KCNN3 or CTG 18.1 may not be a risk factor for BPAD in Korean population and the copy number of ligation product in RED in the patients with BPAD is influenced by the longer allele of CAG/CTG of ERDA1 or CTG 18.1.     

No evidence for involvement of KCNN3 (hSKCa3) potassium channel gene in familial and isolated cases of schizophrenia

Several studies have reported in schizophrenia a decrease of age of onset in successive family generations, and this observation is consistent with anticipation. Anticipation is known to result from expansion of CAG repeats in several neurodegenerative disorders. Longer alleles of the KCNN3 gene, which contains a highly polymorphic CAG repeat, and encodes a neuronal small conductance calcium-activated potassium channel, have recently been shown to be over-represented in sporadic cases of schizophrenia. In this report, we tested the hypothesis of an association between longer alleles of CAG repeat in the KCNN3 gene and schizophrenia in 20 families with clinical evidence for anticipation and in 151 unrelated schizophrenic cases. No significant difference in the distributions of allele frequencies was observed between familial cases of schizophrenia and controls, and between unrelated cases and controls. Furthermore, no intergenerational CAG repeat instability was detected in the 20 families. Our results do not support the involvement of the KCNN3 (hSKCa3) gene in the etiology of schizophrenia.     

hSKCa3: no association of the polymorphic CAG repeat with bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia

hSKCa3 is a neuronal small conductance calcium-activated potassium channel, which contains a polyglutamine tract, encoded by a polymorphic CAG repeat in the gene. Since an association between longer alleles of this CAG repeat and bipolar disorder or schizophrenia has been reported, we genotyped the polymorphic CAG repeat in 91 German family trios of patients with bipolar disorder I and used the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) to test for association. Applying a dichotomized model (< or = 19 or > 19 CAG triplets), we found no evidence for an association of longer alleles with bipolar disorder (TDT = 0.75, P = 0.386). Regarding the whole range of alleles, there was no preference in transmitting the larger of the two observed alleles from parents to the affected offspring. In parallel we performed an independent case-control study on German patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Again we did not detect an overrepresentation of longer CAG repeats in patients. Thus, our data do not support the hypothesis that longer CAG repeats in the hSkCa3 gene contribute to the susceptibility for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.     

Association analysis of CAG repeats at the KCNN3 locus in Indian patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

Bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia are severe behavioral disorders with a lifetime risk of approximately 1% in the population worldwide. There is evidence that these diseases may manifest the phenomenon of anticipation similar to that seen in diseases caused by trinucleotide repeat expansions. A recent report has implicated a potassium channel-coding gene, KCNN3, which contains a polymorphic CAG repeat in its coding region, in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. We have tried to confirm these findings in Indian patients suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. No statistically significant evidence for the presence of an excess of longer alleles in the patient population, as compared to ethnically matched controls, was found. However, an analysis of the difference of allele sizes revealed a significantly greater number of patients with schizophrenia having differences of allele sizes > or = 5 when compared to normal controls. This finding may be of functional significance as the KCNN3 protein is thought to act as a tetramer, and a large difference in allele sizes would result in an asymmetric molecule with a different number of glutamine residues in each monomer. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:744-748, 2000.     

Analysis of the CAG repeats in the SCA1 and B37 genes in schizophrenic and bipolar I disorder patients: Tentative association between B37 and schizophrenia

We have genotyped unrelated French Alsatian schizophrenic and bipolar I disorder (BPD) patients and matched controls for the polymorphic CAG repeats within the genes for spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) and dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (B37), in order to test their possible involvement in these disorders. No alleles with abnormally expanded repeats were found in either gene in patients and controls. Differences in allele and genotype frequencies for the SCA1 CAG repeat between patients and controls were not significant, thus providing no support for its role as a possible positional candidate gene for schizophrenia and BPD in our patients. Chi square testing revealed a significant result ( P = 0.019) for an association between the B37 CAG repeat on chromosome 12p and schizophrenia. This result was more significant when only schizophrenics with a positive family history were compared with controls ( P = 0.0001). The frequencies of alleles with 14, 12, and 15 CAG repeats differed the most, respectively, between schizophrenics and controls. When choosing the median of the B37 allele distribution (15 CAG repeats) as a threshold, there were significantly more controls than schizophrenics in the group with longer alleles (15 or more repeats) and more schizophrenics with shorter alleles ( P = 0.002 by Fisher exact test). No particular genotype was associated with schizophrenia. This result possibly indicates linkage disequilibrium with another locus on chromosome 12p and therefore deserves further attention. No association was found between the B37 CAG repeat and patients with BPD. Am. J. Med. Genet. 74:324–330, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Single sperm analysis of the CAG repeats in the gene for Machado-Joseph disease (MJD1): evidence for non-Mendelian transmission of the MJD1 gene and for the effect of the intragenic CGG/GGG polymorphism on the intergenerational instability

To investigate the mechanism of the meiotic instability of expanded CAG repeats in the gene for Machado-Joseph disease (MJD1), we analyzed the CAG repeat sizes of 1036 single sperm from six individuals with Machado- Joseph disease (MJD). The segregation ratio between single sperm with an expanded allele and those with a normal allele is significantly different (P <0.0001) from the expected 1:1 segregation ratio, which demonstrates segregation distortion of expanded alleles in male meiosis. In single sperm from individuals with the [expanded (CAG)n- CGG]/[normal (CAG)n-GGG] genotype, significantly greater instability of the CAG repeat was observed compared with single sperm from individuals with the [expanded (CAG)n-CGG]/[normal (CAG)n-CGG] genotype (F-test, P <0.001). These findings in single sperm confirm non-Mendelian transmission of the MJD1 gene and the effect of the intragenic CGG/GGG polymorphism on the intergenerational instability of the CAG repeats in the MJD1 gene, which have been observed in clinical and genetic studies. Our results indicate similarities and dissimilarities between MJD and Huntington's disease or myotonic dystrophy in terms of the inter-allelic interaction, segregation distortions and size distribution of trinucleotide repeats in mutant alleles. Further study is required to determine whether there is a common mechanism underlying the instability of the triplet repeats in 'triplet repeat diseases'.      

Excess of high activity monoamine oxidase A gene promoter alleles in female patients with panic disorder

A genetic contribution to the pathogenesis of panic disorder has been demonstrated by clinical genetic studies. Molecular genetic studies have focused on candidate genes suggested by the molecular mechanisms implied in the action of drugs utilized for therapy or in challenge tests. One class of drugs effective in the treatment of panic disorder is represented by monoamine oxidase A inhibitors. Therefore, the monoamine oxidase A gene on chromosome X is a prime candidate gene. In the present study we investigated a novel repeat polymorphism in the promoter of the monoamine oxidase A gene for association with panic disorder in two independent samples (German sample, n = 80; Italian sample, n = 129). Two alleles (3 and 4 repeats) were most common and constituted >97% of the observed alleles. Functional characterization in a luciferase assay demonstrated that the longer alleles (3a, 4 and 5) were more active than allele 3. Among females of both the German and the Italian samples of panic disorder patients (combined, n = 209) the longer alleles (3a, 4 and 5) were significantly more frequent than among females of the corresponding control samples (combined, n = 190, chi2 = 10.27, df = 1, P = 0.001). Together with the observation that inhibition of monoamine oxidase A is clinically effective in the treatment of panic disorder these findings suggest that increased monoamine oxidase A activity is a risk factor for panic disorder in female patients.     

Study of the Huntington''s disease (HD) gene CAG repeats in schizophrenic patients shows overlap of the normal and HD affected ranges but absence of correlation with schizophrenia.

The CAG repeats in the Huntington's disease gene were investigated in chromosomes from 71 unrelated schizophrenic persons and 18 patients with schizoaffective disorder in order to determine if any of these patients had abnormal expansions. All of the probands had repeat sizes in the normal range (< 35 repeats) and there was no significant difference between the allele distributions of these patients and the normal controls. The families of two patients with 32 repeats and one patient with 34 repeats were investigated further and showed no uniform segregation of the disease with the large repeat alleles. The proband with 34 repeats inherited a chromosome that originally had 36 repeats in her father. The presence of 36 CAG repeats in members of her family and in HD patients suggests that there is an overlap between the normal and Huntington's disease CAG repeat size ranges. The more recently described CCG polymorphism in this gene was also examined in the schizophrenic and schizoaffective persons. All patients had alleles in the normal range.     

Increased (CTG/CAG)(n) lengths in myotonic dystrophy type 1 and Machado-Joseph disease genes in idiopathic azoospermia patients

BACKGROUND: An increase in CAG trinucleotide repeat length in the androgen receptor (AR) gene has been linked to idiopathic azoospermia. METHODS: In order to test whether other (CAG/CTG)(n) loci are also affected, the (CAG/CTG)(n) frequency distribution at myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) and spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (SCA8) loci, in addition to the AR gene, was investigated in 48 azoospermia patients and 47 controls. RESULTS: The median CAG repeat length in the AR gene was significantly longer in azoospermia patients than in controls (23 versus 21, P < 0.001). Significant differences were also noted in the upper tails of trinucleotide repeat length distributions at both DM1 and MJD loci between the two populations. At the DM1 locus, alleles of more than 18 repeats were observed only in azoospermia patients, and not in controls (P = 0.014). At the MJD locus, the frequency of normal alleles (ANs) with 29 or more CAG repeats was also much higher in azoospermia patients (29.2 versus 7.4%; P = 0.0001). However, the repeat length distribution at DRPLA and SCA8 loci did not differ in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicated that, at least in a subset of azoospermia patients, there was an increase in the number of trinucleotide repeats in some disease loci. Thus, it is noteworthy to evaluate whether offspring of these azoospermia patients, if born by assisted reproductive technologies, have an increased risk of trinucleotide repeat diseases.     

Predictive testing for Huntington disease: interpretation and significance of intermediate alleles

Direct mutation analysis for Huntington disease (HD) became possible in 1993 with the identification of an expanded CAG trinucleotide repeat as the mutation underlying the disease. Expansion of CAG length beyond 35 repeats may be associated with the clinical presentation of HD. HD has never been seen in a person with a CAG size of <36 repeats. Intermediate alleles are defined as being below the affected CAG range but have the potential to expand to >35 CAG repeats within one generation. Thus, children of intermediate allele carriers have a low risk of developing HD. Currently, the intermediate allele range for HD is between 27 and 35 CAG repeats. In this study, we review the current knowledge on intermediate alleles for HD including the CAG repeat range, the intermediate allele frequency, and the clinical implications of an intermediate allele predictive test result. The factors influencing CAG repeat expansion, including the CAG size of the intermediate allele, the sex and age of the transmitting parent, the family history, and the HD gene sequence and haplotype, will also be reviewed.     

Analysis of the (CAG)n repeat causing Huntington's disease in a Mexican population

We investigated the allele distribution of the polymorphic (CAG)n repeat in the IT15 gene in 96 normal subjects from the Mexican population and 83 unrelated patients with Huntington's disease. Our results show that the size distributions of normal and affected alleles do not overlap. Normal alleles range from 13 to 32 triplets, with 18 being the most frequent allele, while HD alleles contain 37 to 76 repeats with 42 being the most frequent. One allele in the range of intermediate alleles was found (32 repeats) in a normal subject. The juvenile onset cases in this study are associated with an expansion greater than 49 repeats. In the available parent-offspring pairs, paternal alleles show instability with an expansion of 28 repeats in one case.     

一个遗传性共济失调3型家系中致病ATXN3中间类型等位基因分析

目的 研究遗传性共济失调3型中间类型等位基因致病表型的临床表现与基因突变特点.方法 应用PCR、毛细微管电泳、分子克隆及测序等方法 对1个临床诊断为遗传性共济失调家系进行ATXN3基因检测,对异常片段进行分子克隆测序.结果 证实该家系为遗传性共济失调3型家系,先证者异常片段CAG重复次数为43次;患者两个儿子异常片段重复分别为41、64次.结论 中间类型等位基因在两代间遗传是不稳定的,重复次数的改变是双向的,43次CAG重复是目前报道的遗传性共济失调3型发病患者最小不稳定重复次数.本家系的研究结果 进一步缩短了正常CAG重复次数与异常重复次数之间的差距.     

一个遗传性共济失调3型家系中致病ATXN3中间类型等位基因分析

目的 研究遗传性共济失调3型中间类型等位基因致病表型的临床表现与基因突变特点.方法 应用PCR、毛细微管电泳、分子克隆及测序等方法 对1个临床诊断为遗传性共济失调家系进行ATXN3基因检测,对异常片段进行分子克隆测序.结果 证实该家系为遗传性共济失调3型家系,先证者异常片段CAG重复次数为43次;患者两个儿子异常片段重复分别为41、64次.结论 中间类型等位基因在两代间遗传是不稳定的,重复次数的改变是双向的,43次CAG重复是目前报道的遗传性共济失调3型发病患者最小不稳定重复次数.本家系的研究结果 进一步缩短了正常CAG重复次数与异常重复次数之间的差距.     

一个遗传性共济失调3型家系中致病ATXN3中间类型等位基因分析

目的 研究遗传性共济失调3型中间类型等位基因致病表型的临床表现与基因突变特点.方法 应用PCR、毛细微管电泳、分子克隆及测序等方法 对1个临床诊断为遗传性共济失调家系进行ATXN3基因检测,对异常片段进行分子克隆测序.结果 证实该家系为遗传性共济失调3型家系,先证者异常片段CAG重复次数为43次;患者两个儿子异常片段重复分别为41、64次.结论 中间类型等位基因在两代间遗传是不稳定的,重复次数的改变是双向的,43次CAG重复是目前报道的遗传性共济失调3型发病患者最小不稳定重复次数.本家系的研究结果 进一步缩短了正常CAG重复次数与异常重复次数之间的差距.     

Familial predisposition to recurrent mutations causing Huntington''s disease: genetic risk to sibs of sporadic cases.

Huntington's disease (HD) is associated with expansion of a CAG repeat in a new gene. We have recently defined a premutation in a paternal allele of 30 to 38 CAG repeats in the HD gene which is greater than that seen in the general population (< 30 repeats) but below the range seen in patients with HD (> 38). These intermediate alleles are unstable during transmission through the germline and in sporadic cases expand to the full mutation associated with the clinical phenotype of HD. Here we have analysed three new mutation families where, in each, the proband and at least one sib have CAG sizes in the HD range. In one of these families, two sibs with expanded CAG repeats are both clinically affected with HD, thus presenting a pseudorecessive pattern of inheritance. In all three families the parental intermediate allele has expanded in more than one offspring, thus showing a previously unrecognised risk of inheriting HD to sibs of sporadic cases of HD.     

脊髓小脑共济失调患者CAG病理重复次数检测

目的 研究中国汉族人群脊髓小脑性共济失调(spinocerebellar ataxia,SCA)1、2、3、6、7、12、17亚型致病基因的CAG三核苷酸病理重复次数范围.方法 应用聚合酶链反应、琼脂糖凝胶电泳、T载体克隆重组DNA技术并结合直接测序等技术对559例临床诊断为SCA的患者(363例常染色体显性遗传先证者,196例散发患者)进行SCA1、SCA2、SCA3/马查多-约瑟夫病(Machado-Joseph disease,MJD)、SCA6、SCA7、SCA12和SCA17致病基因CAG三核苷酸病理重复次数突变分析.结果 在559例SCA患者中,共检测出SCA1患者23例,CAG病理重复次数范围39～60次,平均(51.09±4.88)次;SCA2患者32例,CAG病理重复次数范围36～51次,平均(40.34±4.40)次;SCA3/MJD患者305例,CAG病理重复次数范围49～86次,平均(73.84±5.07)次;SCA6患者9例,CAG病理重复次数范围23～29次,平均(25.56±1.94)次;SCA7患者27例,CAG病理重复次数范围38～71次,平均(58.22±10.90)次;SCA12患者3例,CAG病理重复次数范围51～52次,平均(51.33±0.58)次;SCA17患者2例,CAG病理重复次数范围53～55次,平均(54.00±1.41)次.结论 SCA1的39次CAG病理重复、SCA3/MJD的49次CAG病理重复和SCA12的51次CAG病理重复为国内或国外报道的最小CAG病理重复次数;SCA3/MJD的86次CAG病理重复为国内外报道的最大CAG病理重复次数;SCA17为国内首次发现的SCA亚型;首次建立中国汉族人群不同SCA亚型CAG三核苷酸病理重复次数范围标准.     

Trinucleotide expansion within the MJD1 gene presents clinically as spinocerebellar ataxia and occurs most frequently in German SCA patients

Autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) is a clinicallyand genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder whichleads to progressive cerebellar ataxia. A gene responsible forSCA type 3 has been mapped to human chromosome 14q, close tothe Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) locus. The MJD1 gene has recentlybeen cloned and the disease causing mutation has been identifiedas an unstable and expanded (CAG)_n trinucleotide repeat. Assome clinical features of MJD overlap with those of SCA we investigatedthe MJD mutation in 38 German families with dominantly inheritedSCA. The MJD1 (CAG)_n expansion was identified in 19 families.In contrast, the trinucleotide expansion was not observed in21 ataxia patients without family history of the disease. Analysisof the (CAG)_n repeat length in 30 patients revealed an inversecorrelation with the age of onset. The (CAG)_n stretch of theaffected allele varied between 67 and 78 trinucleotide units,the normal alleles carried between 12 and 28 simple repeats.These results demonstrate that the MJD mutation causes the diseasephenotype of most SCA patients in Germany.     

The role of sex hormone-binding globulin and androgen receptor gene variants in the development of polycystic ovary syndrome

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may be programmed in utero by androgen excess. Our aim was to examine the role of the sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and androgen receptor (AR) gene polymorphisms, in the phenotypic expression of PCOS. METHODS: A cohort of 180 women with PCOS and 168 healthy women of reproductive age were investigated. BMI was recorded and the hormonal profile was determined on Day 3-5 of menstrual cycle. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leucocytes and the SHBG(TAAAA)n and AR(CAG)n polymorphisms were genotyped by PCR. RESULTS: Genotype analysis revealed six SHBG(TAAAA)n alleles with 6-11 repeats and 19 AR(CAG)n alleles with 6-32 repeats, present in both PCOS and control women. Long SHBG(TAAAA)n alleles (>8 repeats) were at greater frequency in PCOS than normal women (P = 0.001), whereas short AR(CAG)n alleles (相似文献   

Androgen receptor gene (CAG)n repeat analysis in the differential diagnosis between Kennedy disease and other motoneuron disorders

An increase in the number of (CAG)n repeats in the first coding exon of the androgen receptor (AR) gene has been strongly associated with Kennedy disease (KD) (spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy). This is an X-linked hereditary disorder characterized by motoneuron degeneration occurring in adults together with gynecomastia and hyperestrogenemia. We have performed AR gene molecular analysis in several members of a large family with KD as well as in 25 sporadic patients suffering from heterogeneous motoneuron disease (MND). An increase in the length of the (CAG)n repeats was detected, as expected, in all the affected males and in obligatory carrier females, some of which had minor signs of lower motoneuron involvement. There was only one possible exception, one young male with initial signs of the disease, who had an apparent normal length allele. An increased pathological allele was also found in 3 patients with MND. This indicates that the analysis of (CAG)n repeats of the AR gene plays a role in the differential diagnosis of this heterogeneous group of neurological diseases. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.