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Biomedical subjects

B Rautenstrauss

Publications and source records attributed to B Rautenstrauss.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies: a SacI polymorphism in the proximal CMT1A-REP elements may lead to genetic misdiagnosis.

A male patient with clinical signs and symptoms of a demyelinating neuropathy was shown to have a duplication of the 1.5-Mb region on chromosome 17p11.2 by means of two-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). This duplication is typical for the vast majority of Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1A (CMT1A) cases. Analysis of DNA extracted from peripheral blood used to detect an EcoRI/SacI 3. 2-kb junction fragment with probe pLR7.8 confirmed the CMT1A duplication, but also revealed a 7.8-kb fragment usually observed in patients with a hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP). Both fragments observed in one patient canot result from one unequal crossover. In EcoRI/SacI Southern hybridization experiments with probe pLR7.8 DNA of his healthy parents also revealed a 7.8-kB restriction fragment. A subsequent two-color FISH analysis, however, indicated a normal status for interphase nuclei of the parents. Hence we hypothesize that the 7.8-kb fragment observed in our patient and his parents is not the product of unequal crossover during meiosis but due to a polymorphism of the SacI site in a proximal CMT1A-REP element.

Adult↗

An adhesion test system based on Schneider cells to determine genotype-phenotype correlations for mutated P0 proteins.

Myelin protein zero (MPZ, P0) is well known as the adhesion molecule responsible for the compaction of the myelin sheath of peripheral nerves. Mutations are linked to Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome type 1B (CMT1B) and the more severe Dejerine-Sottas syndrome (DSS). Three mutations leading to phenotypes of increasing severity (Ser34del/CMT1B, Ser34Cys/DSS, INS663GC/DSS) were expressed in S2 insect cells and resulted in a decreased adhesion capability in correlation with their respective phenotypes.

Animals↗

Mosaicism for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A: onset in childhood suggests somatic reversion in early developmental stages.

A 1.5 Mb duplication on chromosome 17p11.2 is typical for the great majority of patients suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1A (CMT1A) disease. A female child of 4 years with clinical signs and symptoms of a demyelinating neuropathy was examined for the presence of this duplication. Analysis of MspI polymorphisms in DNA extracted from peripheral blood failed due to homozygosity for probes pVAW409R3a and pEW401HE. Also, no EcoRI/SacI 3.2 kb junction fragment or dosage difference with probe pLR7.8, characteristic of the CMT1A duplication, was found. However, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis with the PMP22 specific probe c132G8 revealed in peripheral blood lymphocytes 60% of interphase nuclei with CMT1A duplication indicating the probability of mosaicism. In interphase nuclei extracted from nerve tissue the duplication was detectable in 88%, in muscle tissue in 72% of the analyzed nuclei. This suggests the presence of a somatic CMT1A duplication mosaicism that can only be reliably detected by FISH. The early onset and severity of the phenotype indicates that the hypothesized somatic reversion is probably fixed to early developmental stages.

Age of Onset↗

Autosomal dominant Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies: detection of the recombination in Slovene patients and exclusion of the potentially recessive Thr118Met PMP22 point mutation.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1 (CMT1) and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) are the most frequent autosomal dominantly inherited disorders of the peripheral nervous system. The recessive inheritance is observed only exceptionally. Unequal crossing-over of misaligned flanking CMT1A-REP elements on chromosome 17p11.2 is the most frequent cause of the CMT1A duplication and of the reciprocal deletion in HNPP patients. Recently a recombination was noted. In our study 71 Slovene CMT1 patients from 36 families, 12 HNPP patients from 6 families and their 31 healthy relatives were analysed for the presence of these recombination mutations. In 29 of 36 unrelated CMT1 (81%) and in all 6 unrelated HNPP patients the duplication or the deletion, on chromosome 17p11.2-12 was detected. In 26 out of 29 duplication patients (CMT1A) (90%) a 3.2 kb EcoRI/SacI duplication junction fragment was observed. The analogous 7.8 kb EcoRI/EcoRI deletion junction fragment was found in 4 out of 6 unrelated HNPP deletion patients (67%). Overall we found a recombination mutation inside the in 86% of unrelated Slovene CMT1A and HNPP patients. One hundred and thirty-six DNA samples of the CMT1 and HNPP patients and of the healthy controls were negative for the potentially recessive Thr118Met PMP22 amino acid substitution. Dominantly inherited CMT1A duplications and HNPP deletions on chromosome 17p11.2 are thus, as in most other European countries, the most common mutations in Slovene CMT1 and HNPP patients. No signs of polymorphism or of potentially recessive mutation were found at the specific Thr118Met PMP22 site.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease↗

Expression pattern of the peripheral myelin protein 22kDa (PMP22) in neural and non-neural tissue types of adult wildtype and Trembler mice--a comparative study.

The Trembler mouse was the first animal model for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1 (CMT1), one of the most frequent inherited peripheral neuropathies in man. In Trembler mouse a Gly150Asp amino acid exchange in the peripheral myelin protein 22kDa (PMP22) gene was identified as causative reason for this hypertrophic neuropathy. For most of the CMT patients suffering from the subtype 1A a duplication of the PMP22 gene is found (gene dosage effect); but several PMP22 point mutations, such as that determining the TremblerJ mouse, have also been described. Since PMP22 is expressed in neural, as well as in non-neural tissues, the expression pattern of PMP22 in different tissues seems to be of highest interest for a better understanding of the hypothesized dual function of this protein. We studied different wildtype (wt) and Trembler (Tr) mouse tissues for PMP22 expression by means of radioactive in situ hybridization (RISH) and immunohistochemistry. A PMP22 expression was found in some of the non-neural and in all neural tissue types studied. Our in situ study clearly demonstrated, that PMP22 mRNA expression in non-neural tissues is not due to peripheral innervation. In non-neural tissues no difference in the expression pattern or intensity between wt and Tr mice was detectable, whereas PMP22 expression in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) of the Tr mouse was extremely reduced. Immunohistochemical analysis of sciatic nerve sections revealed the same maldistribution of PMP22 in Tr mice as in sural nerve biopsies of CMT1 patients.

Animals↗

Advances in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease research: cellular function of CMT-related proteins, transgenic animal models, and pathomechanisms. The European CMT Consortium.

The First Workshop of the European Consortium on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease brought together neuroscientists, molecular and cell biologists, neuropathologists, neurologists, and geneticists with a common interest in the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms that underlie the pathogenesis of CMT. The interdisciplinary group of 25 expert scientists discussed recent advances in (i) molecular genetics and histopathology of CMT, (ii) development of suitable animal models, (iii) understanding of the cellular function of CMT-related proteins, and (iv) studies using nerve biopsies from CMT patients. In this minireview, we summarize the key findings presented and discuss their impact on CMT research.

Animals↗

Molecular diagnosis of PMP22-associated neuropathies using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on archival peripheral nerve tissue preparations.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) syndrome type 1 and tomaculous neuropathy, also called hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP), represent two groups of neurological disorders with different subtypes, which can be distinguished at the molecular level. It is known that a 1.5-mb region on chromosome 17p11.2-12, which includes the gene for the peripheral myelin protein 22 kDa (PMP22), is duplicated in more than 95% of patients with CMT type 1A (CMT1A; gene dosage 3) and is deleted in about 90% of subjects suffering from HNPP (gene dosage 1). This duplication/deletion can be detected reliably by interphase-two-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). We report here a technique for extraction of nuclei from paraffin-embedded and cryofixed sural nerve biopsies for precise molecular diagnosis, employing interphase-two-color FISH in clinically diagnosed CMT1 or HNPP patients. Following this technique we were able to identify six CMT1A duplications in 13 clinically diagnosed CMT1 cases and five HNPP deletions in 6 clinically diagnosed HNPP cases; 8 control persons were included in this study. This is the first report on the use of FISH in the detection of 17p11.2-12 duplication and deletion in archival biopsy material.

Adolescent↗

Clinical and morphological phenotype of HMSN 1A mosaicism.

Clinical, neurophysiological and morphological studies on a patient with mosaicism of the 17p11.2 duplication were performed in detail for the first time. Since duplication occurs during paternal meiosis, a somatic reversion is suggested, leading to mosaicism. The proportion of nuclei with duplication varied markedly between 49% in blood cells and 74% in tissue from the sural nerve. Clinically, mild symptoms of a motor and sensory neuropathy were present. However, neurophysiological changes and findings in the sural nerve biopsy were consistent with a typical hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy type 1 (HMSN 1). Differing clinical findings in patients with mosaicism of the 17p11.2 duplication may be explained by a varying degree and/or time of reversion.

Adult↗

Detection of the CMT1A/HNPP recombination hotspot in unrelated patients of European descent.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1 disease (CMT1) and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) are common inherited disorders of the peripheral nervous system. The majority of CMT1 patients have a 1.5Mb tandem duplication (CMT1A) in chromosome 17p11.2 while most HNPP patients have a deletion of the same 1.5 Mb region. The CMT1A duplication and HNPP deletion are the reciprocal products of an unequal crossing over event between misaligned flanking CMT1A-REP elements. We analysed 162 unrelated CMT1A duplication patients and HNPP deletion patients from 11 different countries for the presence of a recombination hotspot in the CMT1A-REP sequences. A hotspot for unequal crossing over between the misaligned flanking CMT1A-REP elements was observed through the detection of novel junction fragments in 76.9% of 130 unrelated CMT1A patients and in 71.9% of 32 unrelated HNPP patients. This recombination hotspot was also detected in eight out of 10 de novo CMT1A duplication and in two de novo HNPP deletion patients. These data indicate that the hotspot of unequal crossing over occurs in several populations independently of ethnic background and is directly involved in the pathogenesis of CMT1A and HNPP. We conclude that the detection of junction fragments from the CMT1A-REP element on Southern blot analysis is a simple and reliable DNA diagnostic tool for the identification of the CMT1A duplication and HNPP deletion in most patients.

Blotting, Southern↗