Desmin-related myopathy (OMIM 601419) is a familial disorder characterized by skeletal muscle weakness associated with cardiac conduction blocks, arrhythmias and restrictive heart failure, and by intracytoplasmic accumulation of desmin-reactive deposits in cardiac and skeletal muscle cells. The underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. Involvement of the desmin gene (DES) has been excluded in three families diagnosed with desmin-related myopathy. We report two new families with desmin-related cardioskeletal myopathy associated with mutations in the highly conserved carboxy-terminal end of the desmin rod domain. A heterozygous A337P mutation was identified in a family with an adult-onset skeletal myopathy and mild cardiac involvement. Compound heterozygosity for two other mutations, A360P and N393I, was detected in a second family characterized by childhood-onset aggressive course of cardiac and skeletal myopathy.
Kuru reached epidemic proportions by the mid-twentieth century among the Fore people of New Guinea and disappeared after the abolition of cannibalistic rituals. To determine susceptibility to kuru and its role in the spread and elimination of the epidemic, we analyzed the PRNP gene coding sequences in 5 kuru patients; no germline mutations were found. Analysis of the PRNP 129 methionine (M)/valine (V) polymorphism in 80 patients and 95 unaffected controls demonstrated that the kuru epidemic preferentially affected individuals with the M/M genotype. A higher representation of M/M carriers was observed among the affected young Fore males entering the age of risk, whereas a lower frequency of M/M homozygotes was found among the survivors. M/V and V/V genotypes predisposed to a lower risk of disease development and longer incubation times. These findings are relevant to the current outbreak of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in the United Kingdom, because all vCJD patients tested thus far have been M/M carriers.
Myofibrillar myopathies (MFMs) are an expanding and increasingly recognized group of neuromuscular disorders caused by mutations in DES, CRYAB, MYOT, and ZASP. The latest gene to be associated with MFM was FLNC; a p.W2710X mutation in the 24th immunoglobulin-like repeat of filamin C was shown to be the cause of a distinct type of MFM in several German families. We studied an International cohort of 46 patients from 39 families with clinically and myopathologically confirmed MFM, in which DES, CRYAB, MYOT, and ZASP mutations have been excluded. In an unrelated family a 12-nucleotide deletion (c.2997_3008del) in FLNC resulting in a predicted in-frame 4-residue deletion (p.Val930_Thr933del) in the 7th repeat of filamin C was identified. Both affected family members, mother and daughter, but not unrelated control individuals, carried the p.Val930_Thr933del mutation. The mutation is transcribed, and, based on myopathological features and immunoblot analysis, it leads to an accumulation of dysfunctional filamin C in the myocytes. The study results suggest that the novel p.Val930_Thr933del mutation in filamin C is the cause of myofibrillar myopathy but also indicate that filamin C mutations are a comparatively rare cause of MFM.
Abstract:In the course of a search for anti-inflammatory metabolites from marine-derived fungi, methylpenicinoline (1) was isolated from a marine isolate of Penicillin sp. Compound 1 inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production by suppressing the expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in RAW264.7 macrophages and BV2 microglia. It also attenuated prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production by suppressing cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in a concentration-dependent manner (from 10 μM to 80 μM) without affecting cell viability. In addition, compound 1 reduced the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β). In a further study designed to elucidate the mechanism of its anti-inflammatory effects, compound 1 was shown to block OPEN ACCESSMolecules 2014, 19 18074 nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages and BV2 microglia by inhibiting the phosphorylation of inhibitor kappa B-α (IκB-α), thereby suppressing the nuclear translocation of NF-κB dimers, namely p50 and p65, that are known to be crucial molecules associated with iNOS and COX-2 expression. In addition, compound 1 inhibited the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. Taken together, the results suggest that compound 1 might be a valuable therapeutic agent for the treatment of anti-inflammatory and anti-neuroinflammatory diseases.
BACKGROUND-Mutations in the type I ryanodine receptor gene (RYR1) result in malignant hyperthermia, a pharmacogenetic disorder typically triggered by administration of anesthetics. However, cases of sudden death during exertion, heat challenge, and febrile illness in the absence of triggering drugs have been reported. The underlying causes of such drug-free fatal "awake" episodes are unknown. METHODS-De novo R3983C variant in RYR1 was identified in two unrelated children that experienced fatal, nonanesthetic awake episodes associated with febrile illness and heat stress. One of the children also possessed a second novel maternally-inherited D4505H variant located on a separate haplotype. Effects of all possible heterotypic expression conditions on RYR1 sensitivity to caffeine-induced Ca 2+ release were determined in expressing RyR1-null myotubes. RESULTS-Compared to wild-type RYR1 alone (EC 50 = 2.85 ± 0.49 mM), average (±SEM) caffeine sensitivity of Ca 2+ release was modestly increased following coexpression with either R3983C (EC 50 = 2.00 ± 0.39 mM) or D4505H (EC 50 = 1.64 ± 0.24 mM). Remarkably,
Desmin myopathy is a familial or sporadic disorder characterized by intracytoplasmic accumulation of desmin in the muscle cells. We and others have previously identified desmin gene mutations in patients with familial myopathy, but close to 45% of the patients do not report previous family history of the disease. The present study was conducted to determine the cause of desmin myopathy in a sporadic patient presenting with symmetrical muscle weakness and atrophy combined with atrioventricular conduction block requiring a permanent pacemaker. A novel heterozygous R406W mutation in the desmin gene was identified by sequencing cDNA and genomic DNA. Expression of a construct containing the patient's mutant desmin cDNA in SW13 (vim-) cells demonstrated a high pathogenic potential of the R406W mutation. This mutation was not found in the patient's father, mother or sister by sequencing and restriction analysis. Testing with five microsatellite markers and four intragenic single nucleotide polymorphisms excluded alternative paternity. Haplotype analysis indicates that the patient's father was germ-line mosaic for the desmin mutation. We conclude that de novo mutations in the desmin gene may be the cause of sporadic forms of desmin-related cardiac and skeletal myopathy.
BACKGROUND Mutations in the type I ryanodine receptor gene (RYR1) result in malignant hyperthermia, a pharmacogenetic disorder typically triggered by administration of anesthetics. However, cases of sudden death during exertion, heat challenge, and febrile illness in the absence of triggering drugs have been reported. The underlying causes of such drug-free fatal “awake” episodes are unknown. METHODS De novo R3983C variant in RYR1 was identified in two unrelated children that experienced fatal, nonanesthetic awake episodes associated with febrile illness and heat stress. One of the children also possessed a second novel maternally-inherited D4505H variant located on a separate haplotype. Effects of all possible heterotypic expression conditions on RYR1 sensitivity to caffeine-induced Ca2+ release were determined in expressing RyR1-null myotubes. RESULTS Compared to wild-type RYR1 alone (EC50 = 2.85 ± 0.49 mM), average (±SEM) caffeine sensitivity of Ca2+ release was modestly increased following coexpression with either R3983C (EC50 = 2.00 ± 0.39 mM) or D4505H (EC50 = 1.64 ± 0.24 mM). Remarkably, coexpression of wild-type RYR1 with the double mutant in cis (R3983C-D4505H) produced a significantly stronger sensitization of caffeine-induced Ca2+ release (EC50 = 0.64 ± 0.17 mM) compared to that observed following coexpression of the two variants on separate subunits (EC50 = 1.53 ± 0.18 mM). CONCLUSIONS The R3983C mutation potentiates D4505H-mediated sensitization of caffeine-induced RYR1 Ca2+ release when the mutations are in cis (on the same subunit), but not when present on separate subunits. Nevertheless, coexpression of the two variants on separate subunits still resulted in a ~2-fold increase in caffeine sensitivity, consistent with the observed awake episodes and heat sensitivity.
Introduction Nemaline myopathy (NEM) is one of the most common congenital myopathies. A unique subtype, NEM6, maps to chromosome 15q21-q23 in two pedigrees, but the causative gene has not been determined. Methods We conducted clinical examination and myopathological studies in a new NEM family. Genotyping and gene screening were accomplished by searching known and 18 new candidate genes. Results The disease started in childhood by affecting proximal and distal muscles and causing slowness of movements. Muscle biopsies show numerous nemaline rods and core-like formations. Suggestive linkage to chromosome 15q22-q23 was established. Genes known to be mutated in NEM or core-rod myopathy were screened and excluded. No pathogenic mutations were identified in other candidate genes. Discussion The disease in this Spanish family is classified as NEM6. It is phenotypically similar and probably allelic to the two previously reported NEM6 pedigrees. Further studies of these families will lead to the identification of the NEM6 gene.
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