Identification of a Notch3 mutation in a Japanese CADASIL family. Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a hereditary disease that is characterized by recurrent stroke episodes and focal neurologic deficits progressing to pseudobulbar palsy and dementia. The causative gene is the Notch3 gene on chromosome 19, and 22 missense mutations have been identified in Caucasian patients to date. To perform mutational analysis of the Notch3 gene, we identified its exon intron boundaries and prepared sets of primers for amplification of each exon. Using these primers, we determined the Notch3 gene in a Japanese family with CADASIL symptoms and found a missense mutation (Arg133Cys) in exon 4. The mutation was heterozygous and cosegregated with the disease. Thus, the Notch3 gene is responsible for CADASIL in patients across different ethnic groups.