Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Siniscalco

Publications and source records attributed to M Siniscalco.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Cytological mapping of the human glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase gene distal to the fragile-X site suggests a high rate of meiotic recombination across this site.

The human gene for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) has been subregionally mapped to band Xq28 by segregation analysis in rodent-human somatic cell hybrids [Pai, G. S., Sprinkel, J. A., Do, T. T., Mareni, C. E. & Migeon, B. R. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 2810-2813]. We have previously reported a common type of X-linked mental retardation associated with an inducible fragile site at Xq27-Xq28 segregates in a close linkage relationship with a G6PD variant, but the relative position of G6PD with respect to the fragile site has not yet been established. This fragile-X syndrome has been shown to be closely linked also to a Taq I restriction fragment length polymorphism detected by a cDNA probe for factor IX, and the latter locus has been mapped to the subtelomeric region Xq26-Xq28 [Camerino, G., Mattei, M. G., Mattei, G. F., Jaye, B. & Mandel, J. L. (1983) Nature (London) 306, 701-704]. The in situ hybridization studies reported here provide strong evidence that G6PD is located on the Xq telomeric fragment distal to the fragile site. These observations and the well-established knowledge that the genes for Deutan and Protan colorblindness are closely linked to G6PD, but segregate independently of factor IX deficiency, suggest that the fragile site associated with this type of X-linked mental retardation occurs in a region prone to high frequency of meiotic recombination.

Animals↗

Studies on hemophilia A in Sardinia bearing on the problems of multiple allelism, carrier detection, and differential mutation rate in the two sexes.

A large survey of hemophilia A carried out with almost complete ascertainment on the island of Sardinia suggests that the variation of plasma levels of Factor VIII coagulant activity in normal individuals is largely controlled by a series of normal isoalleles or by closely linked modifiers. This variation is expected to affect the laboratory detection of the hemophilia A (HA) heterozygotes in addition to the X-inactivation-dependent mosaicism and the type of deficient mutant present in a given pedigree. The Sardinian pedigrees yielded 13 new cases of nonrecombinants between the loci for HA and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), as well as four nonrecombinants between HA and Deutan color blindness. These findings bring to a total of 58 the number of scorable sibs and nonrecombinants thus far known for the linkage HA-G6PD. From such a figure it has been possible to infer that the 90% upper limit of meiotic recombination between the two loci is below 4%, thus justifying the application of the "linkage diagnostic test" for the detection of HA heterozygotes and the prenatal diagnosis of the hemophilic fetuses in families that segregate at both loci. In three out of the five HA pedigrees of our series that segregate also for G6PD or Deutan color blindness, the observed segregation of the combined phenotypes can be best explained by assuming the occurrence of a fresh mutation in the maternal grandfathers. Such a finding points out the opportunity to reevaluate Haldane's hypothesis of a possible higher incidence of X-linked mutations in the human male. It is anticipated that each of the issues addressed by the present study will be amenable to experimental verification as soon as suitable molecular probes become available to screen for common multiallelic DNA polymorphisms in the subtelomeric region of the X-chromosome long arm.

Alleles↗

Brief report: linkage between G6PD and fragile-X syndrome.

Eighteen Sardinian pedigrees segregating for the X-fragile site syndrome were studied with respect to the segregation of the fragile site (FS) at Xq28, mental retardation, and macro-orchidism. No exception was found in the association of this symptomatic triad (MOM-X) in 41 out of 42 patients examined. The exceptional individual had micro- rather than macro-orchidism and was found to have a 47, XXY sex chromosome complement. In six informative sibships, the MOM-X syndrome was found to segregate in close linkage association with G6PD-deficiency or protan colorblindness. The maximum likelihood estimate of recombination if 6% with 90% fiducial limits between 2.5 and 19.5% and an odds ratio in favor of measurable linkage of 428:1. However, no hint of measurable linkage was found in six pedigrees segregating for G6PD and the Renpenning syndrome or other unspecified types of X-linked mental retardation. These data give strong support to the generally held hypothesis that the FS at Zq28, characteristic of the MOM-X syndrome, is a direct expression of a genetic change in the same chromosomal region. They also clearly suggest that X-linked MR without FS may be the result of different allelic mutations at the same locus.

Color Vision Defects↗

Highly polymorphic DNA site D14S1 maps to the region of Burkitt lymphoma translocation and is closely linked to the heavy chain gamma 1 immunoglobulin locus.

Using a phage lambda Charon 4A recombinant DNA clone (lambdaCH4A-rHs18) from a human genomic library, Wyman and White detected a multiallelic common polymorphism at an EcoRI site (D14S1) flanking the DNA region homologous to the probe [Wyman, A. R. & White, R. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 6754-6758]. Subsequent studies, carried out with the cell hybrid approach and the use of a subclonal derivative (pAW101) from lambdaCH4A-rHs18 have assigned this locus to autosome 14 between 14q21 and 14qter [De Martinville, B., Wyman, A. R., White, R. & Franke, U. (1982) Am. J. Hum. Gen. 34, 216-226]. The data presented here permit the precise mapping of this locus to the subtelomeric region of autosome 14, below band 14q32, in close proximity to the heavy chain gamma1 immunoglobulin locus. These conclusions are supported by three independent lines of evidence, including studies on gene dosage, somatic cell hybrids, and pedigree analysis. Our results are in agreement with the recent assignment of the heavy chain gamma1 immunoglobulin locus to band 14q32 [Kirsch, I. R., Morton, C. C., Nakahara, K. & Leder, P. (1982) Science 216, 301-303] and are consistent with the generally held contention that one unit of meiotic recombination corresponds approximately to one million base pairs. It is to be expected that the location of the highly polymorphic D14S1 site at a measurable distance from the cluster of the heavy chain genes will provide new opportunities for a genetic approach to the question of the specific gene order within the cluster, its possible individual variation, and its biological significance in normal development and disease. It is worthwhile to point out that such a highly polymorphic DNA sequence is located in the same chromosomal region where so much somatic rearrangement goes on normally (i.e., switch region between classes of heavy chain constant region genes) and which is involved with de novo translocations associated with malignancies.

Burkitt Lymphoma↗

Genetic variation in the quantitative levels of an NADP (H)-binding protein (FX) in human erythrocytes.

FX is a red cell NADP(H)-binding protein that has been well defined biochemically and immunologically but whose function is still unknown. Preliminary data indicated that the levels of this protein are significantly increased in hemizygotes, heterozygotes, and homozygotes for the G6PD Mediterranean mutant, thus raising the question of whether or not the individual variation in FX levels is more or less directly influenced by X-linked genes. The present study, based on a large series of population and family data collected in Sardinia, confirms unequivocally the above mentioned interaction, but shows at the same time that the variances in FX levels "between sibships" are 2-3 times larger than those "within sibships," when the analysis is done separately for the G6PD-normal or the G6PD-deficient sibs. From the comparison of the interclass and intraclass correlation coefficients, it appears that about 60% of the total variation of FX is of genetic origin. Moreover, the FX levels of children, analyzed in a pairwise manner, were found to be more positively correlated with those of their fathers (r = 0.39) than with those of their maternal grandfathers (0.20). This latter finding obviously favors the conclusion that "autosomal" rather than "X-linked" genes are involved in the determination of the FX levels.

Adult↗

Temperature-sensitive mutants of BALB/3T3 cells. III. Hybrids between ts2 and other mouse mutant cells affected in DNA synthesis and correction of ts2 defect by human X chromosome.

Complementation studies were performed with ts2, a mouse 3T3 cell mutant temperature sensitive (ts) for cell and viral DNA synthesis. The ts phenotype is corrected by non-ts mouse or human cells and a non-DNA ts mutant. This gene had been localized to a region on the human X chromosome near the HPRT locus based on isozyme and karyotype analysis of hybrids. Unusually rapid loss and fragmentation of human chromosomes occurs in hybrids with ts2. Hybrids between ts2 and other DNA- ts mutants of mouse cells did not show complementation of the growth phenotype.

Animals↗

High rate of sister chromatid exchanges of Bloom's syndrome chromosomes is corrected in rodent human somatic cell hybrids.

The high rate of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) characteristic of cultured somatic cells from patients with Bloom's syndrome (BS) was found to be fully corrected in BS chromosomes retained by somatic cell hybrids between Chinese hamster cells (CHO-YH 21) and BS fibroblasts (GM 1492), independent of the type and the number of human chromosomes retained. On the contrary, the average rate of SCE per Chinese hamster chromosome remained unaffected by hybridization with both BS and normal human cells. A partial suppression of SCE of about 30% was observed in the BS cells themselves when these were co-cultivated with Chinese hamster/Bloom's syndrome hybrid cells. In these hybrids, the rate of SCE per chromosome (Chinese hamster or human) was unaffected by co-cultivation. The data reported indicate that the high rate of SCE in BS cells must be considered to be the consequence of a lost normal function, rather than the acquisition of a new abnormal one, and that several independent genetic systems may be involved in the control of SCE during the replication of mammalian cells. Accordingly, the high rate of SCE in a cultured cell line or an individual should be looked upon as the common phenotype resulting from mutation(s) at any one of these systems. The occurrence of genetic complementation for SCE across the species barrier suggests that at least some of these genetic systems are homologous in different mammalian species and emphasizes the potential(s) of somatic cell hybridization for studying the biology of SCE, in general, and the genetics of Bloom's syndrome, in particular.

Animals↗

X-mapping in man: evidence against measurable linkage between anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia and G6PD deficiency.

A Sardinian kindred segregating for X-linked anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (AED), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency of Mediterranean type, and Xga blood antigen provides evidence against a measurable linkage between the loci for AED and G6PD. Moreover, from the segregation of the combined phenotypes in four scorable sons from two triple heterozygotes with phase known, it seems highly probable that the AED locus is nearer to the centromere than is the G6PD locus.

Blood Group Antigens↗

Hybridization properties of human X-chromosomal RNA transcripts from murine--human hybrids.

A human--mouse hybrid cell line which has retained the human X chromosome and a fragment of chromosome 2 contains RNA sequences transcribed from human DNA. Nuclear RNA enriched for human sequences was prepared from this hybrid cell line by a multistep hybridization procedure to mouse and human DNA immoblized on nitrocellulose filters. The properties of this RNA were analyzed by RNA--DNA hybridization techniques. The results indicate that we have prepared a RNA fraction enriched for sequences homologous to repeated DNA sequences of the human X chromosome.

Animals↗