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Biomedical subjects

I Nishino

Publications and source records attributed to I Nishino.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Ullrich disease: collagen VI deficiency: EM suggests a new basis for muscular weakness.

Ullrich disease is a form of congenital muscular dystrophy characterized clinically by generalized muscle weakness, contractures of the proximal joints, and hyperflexibility of the distal joints from birth or early infancy. Recently, mutations of the collagen VI gene have been associated with Ullrich disease. The authors report on a boy with Ullrich disease who has complete deficiency of collagen VI and harbors compound heterozygous mutations in the collagen VI alpha 2 gene. Absence of microfibrils on EM, together with normal collagen fibrils and basal lamina, suggests that loss of a link between interstitium and basal lamina may be a new molecular pathomechanism of muscular dystrophy.

Child, Preschool↗

Clinicopathological features of genetically confirmed Danon disease.

BACKGROUND: Danon disease is due to primary deficiency of lysosome-associated membrane protein-2. OBJECTIVE: To define the clinicopathologic features of Danon disease. METHODS: The features of 20 affected men and 18 affected women in 13 families with genetically confirmed Danon disease were reviewed. RESULTS: All patients had cardiomyopathy, 18 of 20 male patients (90%) and 6 of 18 female patients (33%) had skeletal myopathy, and 14 of 20 male patients (70%) and one of 18 female patients (6%) had mental retardation. Men were affected before age 20 years whereas most affected women developed cardiomyopathy in adulthood. Muscle histology revealed basophilic vacuoles that contain acid phosphatase-positive material within membranes that lack lysosome-associated membrane protein-2. Heart transplantation is the most effective treatment for the otherwise lethal cardiomyopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Danon disease is an X-linked dominant multisystem disorder affecting predominantly cardiac and skeletal muscles.

Adolescent↗

Mutation in the caveolin-3 gene causes a peculiar form of distal myopathy.

The authors describe a patient with sporadic distal myopathy associated with reduced caveolin-3 in muscle fibers in which the muscle atrophy was restricted to the small muscles of the hands and feet. Gene analysis disclosed a heterozygous 80 G-->A substitution in the caveolin-3 gene that was identical to that of reported cases of elevated serum creatine kinase. This patient further demonstrated possible clinical heterogeneity of myopathies with mutations in the caveolin-3 gene.

Adolescent↗

Infantile autophagic vacuolar myopathy is distinct from Danon disease.

Lysosomal glycogen storage disease with normal acid maltase (Danon) is caused by primary lysosome-associated membrane protein-2 (LAMP-2) deficiency. Typically, the disease begins after the first decade; however, two infantile patients had similar histologic features. The infantile disorder is distinct from Danon disease, because, in both infants, LAMP-2 protein is present in skeletal muscle. Deposition of C5b-9 and multilayered basal lamina in one patient suggest that the infantile disease is pathogenically similar to X-linked myopathy with excessive autophagy.

Antigens, CD↗

The sarcolemmal proteins dysferlin and caveolin-3 interact in skeletal muscle.

Dysferlin is a surface membrane protein in skeletal muscle whose deficiency causes distal and proximal, recessively inherited, forms of muscular dystrophy designated Miyoshi myopathy (MM) and limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B (LGMD2B), respectively. The function of dysferlin is not defined. Caveolin-3 is another skeletal muscle membrane protein which is important in the formation of caveolae and whose mutations cause dominantly inherited limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 1C (LGMD1C). We report that dysferlin co-immunoprecipitates with caveolin-3 from biopsied normal human skeletal muscles. We also describe abnormal localization of dysferlin in muscles from patients with LGMD1C including novel missense mutation (T64P) in the human caveolin-3 gene (CAV3). The immunoprecipitation data are consistent with the parallel observation that dysferlin immunostaining is not normal in LGMD1C muscles. Amino acid sequence analysis of the dysferlin protein reveals seven sites that correspond to caveolin-3 scaffold-binding motifs, and one site that is a potential target to bind the WW domain of the caveolin-3 protein. This is the first description of a possible dysferlin interacting protein; it suggests the hypothesis that one function of dysferlin may be to interact with caveolin-3 to subserve signaling functions of caveolae.

Caveolin 3↗

Defects of intergenomic communication: autosomal disorders that cause multiple deletions and depletion of mitochondrial DNA.

Depletion and multiple deletions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been associated with a growing number of autosomal diseases that have been classified as defects of intergenomic communication. MNGIE, an autosomal recessive disorder associated with mtDNA alterations is due to mutations in thymidine phosphorylase that may cause imbalance of the mitochondrial nucleotide pool. Subsequently, mutations in the mitochondrial proteins adenine nucleotide translocator 1, Twinkle, and polymerase gamma have been found to cause autosomal dominant progressive external ophthalmoplegia with multiple deletions of mtDNA. Uncovering the molecular bases of intergenomic communication defects will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for maintaining mtDNA integrity.

Chromosome Disorders↗

Histochemical examination of osteoblastic activity in op/op mice with or without injection of recombinant M-CSF.

Osteopetrotic (op/op) mice do not exhibit bone remodeling because of defective osteoclast formation caused by the depletion of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). In the present study, we investigated tibial bones of op/op mice with or without prior injections of M-CSF to determine whether osteoclast formation and subsequent bone resorption could activate osteoblasts, which is known as a "coupling" phenomenon. In op/op mice, no osteoclasts were present, but the metaphyseal osteoblasts adjacent to the growth plate cartilage seemed to be active, revealing an intense alkaline phosphatase (ALPase) immunoreactivity. Consequently, primary trabecular bones were extended continuously to the diaphysis, indicating that bone modeling is well achieved in op/op mice. In contrast with the metaphysis, most of the diaphyseal osteoblasts were flattened and showed weak ALPase activity, and, as a result, they seemed to be less active. Osteopontin (OPN) was localized slightly at the interface between bone and cartilage matrices of the primary trabeculae. In contrast, in op/op mice injected with M-CSF, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive osteoclasts appeared, resorbing trabecular bones of the diaphyseal region. The diaphyseal osteoblasts in the vicinity of the active osteoclasts were cuboidal and exhibited strong ALPase immunoreactivity. OPN was observed not only at the bone-cartilage interface, but also significantly on the resorption lacunae beneath the bone-resorbing osteoclasts. These observations indicate that the activation of diaphyseal osteoblasts appears to be coupled with osteoclast formation and subsequent osteoclastic bone resorption. Alternatively, the metaphyseal osteoblasts at the chondro-osseous junction seemed to be less affected by osteoclastic activity.

Acid Phosphatase↗

MNGIE: from nuclear DNA to mitochondrial DNA.

Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy (MNGIE) is a unique autosomal recessive disorder with mitochondrial DNA alterations. The disease is characterized clinically by ptosis, progressive external ophthalmoparesis, gastrointestinal dysmotility, cachexia, peripheral neuropathy, and leukoencephalopathy. Muscle biopsies typically reveal mitochondrial abnormalities including ragged-red fibers and focal cytochrome c oxidase deficiency. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA in skeletal muscle shows partial depletion, multiple deletions, or both. To identify the cause of MNGIE, we mapped the disease locus to chromosome 22q13.32-qter. Within this region, we identified the gene encoding thymidine phosphorylase as the MNGIE gene. We have identified homozygous or compound-heterozygous thymidine phosphorylase gene mutations in 35 MNGIE patients (21 families) from diverse ethnic groups, including: Ashkenazi Jewish, Western European, Jamaican, Hispanic, and Japanese. We confirmed pathogenicity of the mutations by a spectrophotometric assay of thymidine phosphorylase activity with peripheral leukocytes of 15 MNGIE patients. Thymidine phosphorylase enzymatic activity was severely reduced, thus enabling us to conclude that the loss-of-function mutations in thymidine phosphorylase gene cause MNGIE. Thymidine phosphorylase catabolizes thymidine to thymine. In agreement with this notion, we noted that plasma thymidine level is increased more than 20-fold in MNGIE patients compared to controls. Therefore, we have hypothesized that increased thymidine causes mitochondrial nucleotide pool imbalance which, in turn, leads to motochondrial DNA alterations, via a mitochondria-specific thymidine salvage pathway. The identification of the MNGIE gene has allowed us to classify MNGIE as a disease of nucleoside dysmetabolism. We may be entering a new era of research on mitochondrial nucleoside metabolism.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22↗

Sarcolemmopathy: muscular dystrophies with cell membrane defects.

In this article, we review the molecular pathology of muscular dystrophies caused by defects of proteins located within or near cell membranes. These disorders include Bethlem myopathy, merosinopathy, dystrophinopathy, sarcoglycanopathies, integrinopathy, dysferlinopathy and caveolinopathy. We refer to these diseases collectively as sarcolemmopathy. Here, we describe the biological functions of these proteins in the context of muscular contractions and their roles in the infrastructure of muscle; defects of muscle infrastructures cause those diseases. As an example, in dystrophinopathy, cell membranes have mechanical defects due to the absence of dystrophin. Cracks of the cell membrane induced by muscle contraction may allow the influx and efflux of substances that trigger muscle cell degeneration. However, such cracks may be resealed on relaxation. In addition, dystrophinopathy causes secondary defects of various dystrophin-associated proteins suggesting that defects in cell signaling participate in the pathologic process. With regard to other sarcolemmopathies, we discuss pathological mechanisms based on available data.

Cell Membrane↗