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Biomedical subjects

A D Roses

Publications and source records attributed to A D Roses.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Familial and sporadic Alzheimer's disease: neuropathology cannot exclude a final common pathway.

Whether all etiologic forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) share a final common pathway is a major issue. We determined the severity and regional distribution of neuronal loss, amyloid plaques, neuritic plaques (NPs), and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), and calculated the ratio of neuronal loss to NPs and NFTs in brains of 19 familial AD (FAD) patients with linkage to chromosome 14, six AD patients with mutations of chromosome 21 (codon 717 of the beta-amyloid percursor protein gene), and 11 sporadic AD (SAD) patients. There was no difference in the pattern of distribution of the various pathologic features or in the ratio of neuronal loss to NPs or NFTs in any AD group. However, FAD groups could be distinguished from SAD by the greater severity and the lack of influence of apolipoprotein E genotype on pathology. These differences may reflect differences in age at onset rather than different etiopathologic mechanisms. The similarity of pathologic findings in the different AD groups provides evidence for a final common pathophysiologic pathway in AD.

Age of Onset↗

Linkage of frontotemporal dementia to chromosome 17: clinical and neuropathological characterization of phenotype.

Frontotemporal dementia is a behavioral disorder of insidious onset and variable progression. Clinically, its early features reflect frontal lobe dysfunction characterized by personality change, deterioration in memory and executive functions, and stereotypical and perseverative behaviors. Pathologically, there is degeneration of the neocortex and subcortical nuclei, without distinctive features such as plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, or Pick or Lewy bodies. Within-family variation in neuropathology and clinical phenotype is observed. In cases where family aggregation is observed, it is inherited as an autosomal dominant, age-dependent disorder. Family studies recently have identified two dementia loci: chromosome 17 for disinhibition-dementia-parkinsonism-amyotrophic complex and pallido-ponto-nigral degeneration and chromosome 3 for familial nonspecific dementia. We describe a family (DUK1684) with clinically and neuropathologically confirmed, autosomal dominant, non-Alzheimer disease dementia. Linkage analysis of this family showed evidence for linkage to chromosome 17q21, with a multipoint location score (log10) of 5.52. A comparison of the clinical and pathological features in DUK1684 with those of the other chromosome 17-linked families, together with the linkage data, suggests that these families are allelic. These studies emphasize that genetic linkage analysis remains a useful tool for differentiating disease loci in clinically complex traits.

Age of Onset↗

Physical and genetic mapping of the CMT4A locus and exclusion of PMP-2 as the defect in CMT4A.

We have previously localized one form of the autosomal recessive Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 4 (CMT4A) to a 5-cM region of chromosome 8q13-q21. We now report the formation of a 7-Mb YAC contig spanning the region. This contig was used to map nine additional microsatellites and six STSs to this region, and subsequent haplotype analysis has narrowed the CMT4A flanking interval to less than 1 cM. In addition, using SSCP and our physical map, we have demonstrated that the myelin protein PMP-2, mapped by FISH to this region, is not the defect in CMT4A.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Cloning of a gene bearing missense mutations in early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease.

Some cases of Alzheimer's disease are inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Genetic linkage studies have mapped a locus (AD3) associated with susceptibility to a very aggressive form of Alzheimer's disease to chromosome 14q24.3. We have defined a minimal cosegregating region containing the AD3 gene, and isolated at least 19 different transcripts encoded within this region. One of these transcripts (S182) corresponds to a novel gene whose product is predicted to contain multiple transmembrane domains and resembles an integral membrane protein. Five different missense mutations have been found that cosegregate with early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease. Because these changes occurred in conserved domains of this gene, and are not present in normal controls, they are likely to be causative of AD3.

Alzheimer Disease↗

ApoE3 binding to tau tandem repeat I is abolished by tau serine262 phosphorylation.

The risk of Alzheimer's disease is determined, in part, by inheritance of specific alleles of ApoE. Isoform specific interactions of ApoE have been shown with the microtubule-associated protein tau, which forms the neurofibrillary tangle in this disease. Synthetic peptides representing each of the four microtubule-binding domains of tau more avidly bind ApoE3 than ApoE4. Phosphorylation of serine262 in domain I of tau decreases tau binding to microtubules and also abolishes binding by ApoE3. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of the high avidity, isoform-specific interactions of ApoE with tau may help in developing approaches for disease intervention.

Alzheimer Disease↗

Apolipoprotein E and Alzheimer disease.

Inheritance of specific apolipoprotein E (apoE) alleles determines, in large part, the risk and mean age of onset of late-onset familial and sporadic Alzheimer disease. The mechanism by which the apoE isoforms differentially contribute to disease expression is, however, unknown. Isoform-specific differences have been identified in the binding of apoE to the microtubule-associated protein tau, which forms the paired helical filament and neurofibrillary tangles, and to amyloid beta peptide, a major component of the neuritic plaque. These and other isoform-specific interactions of apoE give rise to testable hypotheses for the mechanism(s) of pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. An unresolved issue of increasing importance is the relationship between the structural pathological lesions and the cellular pathogenesis responsible for the clinical disease phenotype, progressive dementia. The identification of apoE in the cytoplasm of human neurons and the characterization of isoform-specific binding of apoE to the microtubule-associated proteins tau and MAP-2 present the possibility that apoE may affect microtubule function in the Alzheimer brain.

Age Factors↗

Neurodegeneration in the central nervous system of apoE-deficient mice.

Apolipoprotein E (apoE) is involved in the development and regeneration of the central nervous system (CNS). ApoE may also be necessary to maintain the integrity of the synapto-dendritic complexity. We analyzed the synaptic alterations in the CNS of apoE-deficient (knockout) mice during the aging process. In apoE-deficient homozygous mice, there was an age-dependent 15 to 40% loss of synaptophysin-immunoreactive nerve terminals and microtubule-associated protein 2-immunoreactive dendrites in the neocortex and hippocampus, when compared to controls. Dendritic alterations were observed as early as 4 months of age. Ultrastructural analysis revealed extensive dendritic vacuolization and disruption of the endomembrane system and cytoskeleton in apoE-deficient homozygous mice. Further immunocytochemical studies of the neuronal cytoskeleton showed that in apoE-deficient mice there was a decrease in the immunoreactivity of alpha and beta tubulin (but not kinesin) in the cell bodies and processes. These results support the contention that apoE might play an important role in maintaining the stability of the synapto-dendritic apparatus and that altered or deficient functioning of this molecule could underlie the synaptic and cytoskeletal alterations in Alzheimer's disease.

Aging↗

Risk of intracranial aneurysms in families with subarachnoid hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Genetic factors may be important in the etiology of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and intracranial aneurysm (IA) formation. Several studies have reported the familial occurrence of SAH and IA, although in most cases asymptomatic family members were not studied with elective angiography. The examination of data from large sibships could provide important information about the frequency of IA occurrence in at-risk individuals and the mode of inheritance for familial SAH/IA. METHODS: We reviewed published case series of sibships with SAH and at least four siblings, in which at least one sibling underwent elective angiography. Data were collected on age-of-onset, clinical events, presence of hypertension, angiographic findings, and outcome. Patients were classified as "affected" if they had a SAH or if an IA was detected by elective angiography, and "unaffected" if they were asymptomatic and had a negative angiogram. RESULTS: Seven case series with 52 individuals (26 men and 26 women) met our inclusion criteria. The sibships ranged from 6 to 13 members. Most of the siblings (32 of 52, 61%) were asymptomatic, 18 (35%) had a SAH, and 2 (4%) had focal symptoms but no SAH. Elective angiography of 34 siblings showed an IA in 11 (32%) and was negative in 23 (68%). The overall rate of affecteds (SAH or IA) was 56%. CONCLUSIONS: Based on data from these sibships, angiography of asymptomatic at-risk siblings demonstrated an IA in almost one-third of cases. Familial SAH/IA segregated with a pattern that was consistent with an autosomal dominant trait in this selected series of sibships, although other factors could produce these findings.

Adult↗