Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004134 (ataxia)
 15,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is an autosomal dominant progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by ataxia, dysarthria, ophthalmoparesis, and variable degrees of amyotrophy and neuropathy. Symptoms usually develop in the third or fourth decade but anticipation has been noted in juvenile onset cases. Neuropathologic findings include severe neuronal loss in the cerebellum and brainstem as well as degeneration of spinocerebellar tracts. The SCA1 gene which maps to the short arm of human chromosome 6 was identified using a positional cloning approach. The disease causing mutation is an expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat which lies within the coding region of a novel protein, ataxin-1, and encodes a polyglutamine tract. The number of CAG repeats varies from 6-39 repeats on normal alleles and 40-81 repeats on SCA1 alleles. The repeat has a perfect CAG configuration on expanded alleles whereas it is interrupted by 1-3 CAT units on normal alleles. Both wild type and expanded alleles are transcribed, ruling out impairment of transcriptional efficiency in SCA1. A pathogenetic model is proposed based on the findings in SCA1 and other neurodegenerative diseases caused by expansion of polyglutamine tracts. The expanded polyglutamine tract in ataxin-1 may lead to neurodegeneration through a gain of function mechanism involving aberrant interactions with other molecules in the involved neurons.
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PMID:Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. 761 95

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is a dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by ataxia, dysarthria and progressive bulbar dysfunction. The SCA 1 gene which maps to the short arm of chromosome 6 has been isolated using a positional cloning approach. The SCA1 transcript is 10660 bases and encodes a novel protein, ataxin-1, with a predicted molecular weight of 87 kDa. Expansion of a CAG repeat localized near the amino terminus of ataxin-1 has been found to be the mutational mechanism in SCA1. This CAG repeat is highly polymorphic with normal alleles containing 6-39 repeats. Individuals affected with SCA1 have one normal allele and one expanded allele containing 40-81 repeats. The size of the repeat correlates inversely with the age of onset of symptoms and the severity of disease. The repeat is a continuous CAG repeat tract on SCA1 chromosomes whereas in > or = 98% of normal alleles one or more CAT interruptions break the CAG repeat tracts into two tracts containing less than 18 repeats each. This suggests that loss of CAT interruptions within the SCA1 CAG repeat on normal chromosomes leads to triplet instability.
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PMID:Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. 762 Jan 19

Several loci-containing genes that might harbour mutations predisposing to schizophrenia have recently been identified. The locus on chromosome 6p has been detected by several groups and appears to predispose to schizophrenia in 15%-30% of the pedigrees in one of these studies. The chromosome 6p locus for schizophrenia spans about 30 cM, between markers D6S296 and D6S276. The current transcription map of the 6p22-24 region includes three expressed sequence tags and six genes, one of which is the spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) gene. Patients with SCA1 have the CAG repeat sequence, which encodes a polyglutamine stretch in the ataxin-1 protein, expanded beyond the normal range. More recently, linkage disequilibrium between schizophrenia and the SCA1 CAG repeat has been reported. SCA1 is a good candidate gene for the schizophrenia-susceptibility locus on chromosome 6p as indicated by its expression pattern. We have studied the coding region of the SCA1 gene (exons 8 and 9) in samples from schizophrenia patients and have identified two amino-acid variants (S186C and P754S) and three nucleotide polymorphisms (1409A/G, 1865T/C and 2150A/G). One of the amino-acid changes (S186C) was present in two schizophrenic brothers from one family and in a schizophrenic patient and a non-affected subject of a second family but it was not detected in 100 unrelated subjects from the general population. S186C and other variants may be of relevance to the complex genetic factors involved in schizophrenia phenotypes.
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PMID:Analysis of amino-acid and nucleotide variants in the spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) gene in schizophrenic patients. 918 71

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is one of several neurodegenerative disorders caused by an expansion of a polyglutamine tract. It is characterized by ataxia, progressive motor deterioration, and loss of cerebellar Purkinje cells. To understand the pathogenesis of SCA1, we examined the subcellular localization of wild-type human ataxin-1 (the protein encoded by the SCA1 gene) and mutant ataxin-1 in the Purkinje cells of transgenic mice. We found that ataxin-1 localizes to the nuclei of cerebellar Purkinje cells. Normal ataxin-1 localizes to several nuclear structures approximately 0.5 microm across, whereas the expanded ataxin-1 localizes to a single approximately 2-microm structure, before the onset of ataxia. Mutant ataxin-1 localizes to a single nuclear structure in affected neurons of SCA1 patients. Similarly, COS-1 cells transfected with wild-type or mutant ataxin-1 show a similar pattern of nuclear localization; with expanded ataxin-1 occurring in larger structures that are fewer in number than those of normal ataxin-1. Colocalization studies show that mutant ataxin-1 causes a specific redistribution of the nuclear matrix-associated domain containing promyelocytic leukaemia protein. Nuclear matrix preparations demonstrate that ataxin-1 associates with the nuclear matrix in Purkinje and COS cells. We therefore propose that a critical aspect of SCA1 pathogenesis involves the disruption of a nuclear matrix-associated domain.
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PMID:Ataxin-1 with an expanded glutamine tract alters nuclear matrix-associated structures. 935 20

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder characterized by ataxia, progressive motor deterioration, and loss of cerebellar Purkinje cells. SCA1 belongs to a growing group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by expansion of CAG repeats, which encode glutamine. Although the proteins containing these repeats are widely expressed, the neurodegeneration in SCA1 and other polyglutamine diseases selectively involves a few neuronal subtypes. The mechanism(s) underlying this neuronal specificity is unknown. Here we show that the cerebellar leucine-rich acidic nuclear protein (LANP) interacts with ataxin-1, the SCA1 gene product. LANP is expressed predominantly in Purkinje cells, the primary site of pathology in SCA1. The interaction between LANP and ataxin-1 is significantly stronger when the number of glutamines is increased. Immunofluorescence studies demonstrate that both LANP and ataxin-1 colocalize in nuclear matrix-associated subnuclear structures. The features of the interaction between ataxin-1 and LANP, their spatial and temporal patterns of expression, and the colocalization studies indicate that cerebellar LANP is involved in the pathogenesis of SCA1.
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PMID:The cerebellar leucine-rich acidic nuclear protein interacts with ataxin-1. 935 21

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by ataxia, progressive motor deterioration, and loss of cerebellar Purkinje cells. To investigate SCA1 pathogenesis and to gain insight into the function of the SCA1 gene product ataxin-1, a novel protein without homology to previously described proteins, we generated mice with a targeted deletion in the murine Sca1 gene. Mice lacking ataxin-1 are viable, fertile, and do not show any evidence of ataxia or neurodegeneration. However, Sca1 null mice demonstrate decreased exploratory behavior, pronounced deficits in the spatial version of the Morris water maze test, and impaired performance on the rotating rod apparatus. Furthermore, neurophysiological studies performed in area CA1 of the hippocampus reveal decreased paired-pulse facilitation in Sca1 null mice, whereas long-term and post-tetanic potentiations are normal. These findings demonstrate that SCA1 is not caused by loss of function of ataxin-1 and point to the possible role of ataxin-1 in learning and memory.
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PMID:Mice lacking ataxin-1 display learning deficits and decreased hippocampal paired-pulse facilitation. 965 Dec 31

Transgenic mice carrying the spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) gene, a polyglutamine neurodegenerative disorder, develop ataxia with ataxin-1 localized to aggregates within cerebellar Purkinje cells nuclei. To examine the importance of nuclear localization and aggregation in pathogenesis, mice expressing ataxin-1[82] with a mutated NLS were established. These mice did not develop disease, demonstrating that nuclear localization is critical for pathogenesis. In a second series of transgenic mice, ataxin-1[77] containing a deletion within the self-association region was expressed within Purkinje cells nuclei. These mice developed ataxia and Purkinje cell pathology similar to the original SCA1 mice. However, no evidence of nuclear ataxin-1 aggregates was found. Thus, although nuclear localization of ataxin-1 is necessary, nuclear aggregation of ataxin-1 is not required to initiate pathogenesis in transgenic mice.
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PMID:Ataxin-1 nuclear localization and aggregation: role in polyglutamine-induced disease in SCA1 transgenic mice. 977 39

The inherited neurodegenerative diseases caused by an expanded glutamine repeat share the pathologic feature of intranuclear aggregates or inclusions (NI). Here in cell-based studies of the spinocerebellar ataxia type-3 disease protein, ataxin-3, we address two issues central to aggregation: the role of polyglutamine in recruiting proteins into NI and the role of nuclear localization in promoting aggregation. We demonstrate that full-length ataxin-3 is readily recruited from the cytoplasm into NI seeded either by a pathologic ataxin-3 fragment or by a second unrelated glutamine-repeat disease protein, ataxin-1. Experiments with green fluorescence protein/polyglutamine fusion proteins show that a glutamine repeat is sufficient to recruit an otherwise irrelevant protein into NI, and studies of human disease tissue and a Drosophila transgenic model provide evidence that specific glutamine-repeat-containing proteins, including TATA-binding protein and Eyes Absent protein, are recruited into NI in vivo. Finally, we show that nuclear localization promotes aggregation: an ataxin-3 fragment containing a nonpathologic repeat of 27 glutamines forms inclusions only when targeted to the nucleus. Our findings establish the importance of the polyglutamine domain in mediating recruitment and suggest that pathogenesis may be linked in part to the sequestering of glutamine-containing cellular proteins. In addition, we demonstrate that the nuclear environment may be critical for seeding polyglutamine aggregates.
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PMID:Recruitment and the role of nuclear localization in polyglutamine-mediated aggregation. 985 44

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is a dominantly inherited disorder characterized by progressive loss of coordination, motor impairment and the degeneration of cerebellar Purkinje cells, spinocerebellar tracts and brainstem nuclei. Many dominantly inherited neurodegenerative diseases share the mutational basis of SCA1: the expansion of a translated CAG repeat coding for glutamine. Mice lacking ataxin-1 display learning deficits and altered hippocampal synaptic plasticity but none of the abnormalities seen in human SCA1; mice expressing ataxin-1 with an expanded CAG tract (82 glutamine residues), however, develop Purkinje cell pathology and ataxia. These results suggest that mutant ataxin-1 gains a novel function that leads to neuronal degeneration. This novel function might involve aberrant interaction(s) with cell-specific protein(s), which in turn might explain the selective neuronal pathology. Mutant ataxin-1 interacts preferentially with a leucine-rich acidic nuclear protein that is abundantly expressed in cerebellar Purkinje cells and other brain regions affected in SCA1. Immunolocalization studies in affected neurons of patients and SCA1 transgenic mice showed that mutant ataxin-1 localizes to a single, ubiquitin-positive nuclear inclusion (NI) that alters the distribution of the proteasome and certain chaperones. Further analysis of NIs in transfected HeLa cells established that the proteasome and chaperone proteins co-localize with ataxin-1 aggregates. Moreover, overexpression of the chaperone HDJ-2/HSDJ in HeLa cells decreased ataxin-1 aggregation, suggesting that protein misfolding might underlie NI formation. To assess the importance of the nuclear localization of ataxin-1 and its role in SCA1 pathogenesis, two lines of transgenic mice were generated. In the first line, the nuclear localization signal was mutated so that full-length mutant ataxin-1 would remain in the cytoplasm; mice from this line did not develop any ataxia or pathology. This suggests that mutant ataxin-1 is pathogenic only in the nucleus. To assess the role of the aggregates, transgenic mice were generated with mutant ataxin-1 without the self-association domain (SAD) essential for aggregate formation. These mice developed ataxia and Purkinje cell abnormalities similar to those seen in SCA1 transgenic mice carrying full-length mutant ataxin-1, but lacked NIs. The nuclear milieu is thus a critical factor in SCA1 pathogenesis, but large NIs are not needed to initiate pathogenesis. They might instead be downstream of the primary pathogenic steps. Given the accumulated evidence, we propose the following model for SCA1 pathogenesis: expansion of the polyglutamine tract alters the conformation of ataxin-1, causing it to misfold. This in turn leads to aberrant protein interactions. Cell specificity is determined by the cell-specific proteins interacting with ataxin-1. Submicroscopic protein aggregation might occur because of protein misfolding, and those aggregates become detectable as NIs as the disease advances. Proteasome redistribution to the NI might contribute to disease progression by disturbing proteolysis and subsequent vital cellular functions.
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PMID:Progress in pathogenesis studies of spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. 1043 9

Mutant ataxin-1, the expanded polyglutamine protein causing spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1), aggregates in ubiquitin-positive nuclear inclusions (NI) that alter proteasome distribution in affected SCA1 patient neurons. Here, we observed that ataxin-1 is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. While ataxin-1 [2Q] and mutant ataxin-1 [92Q] are polyubiquitinated equally well in vitro, the mutant form is three times more resistant to degradation. Inhibiting proteasomal degradation promotes ataxin-1 aggregation in transfected cells. And in mice, Purkinje cells that express mutant ataxin-1 but not a ubiquitin-protein ligase have significantly fewer NIs. Nonetheless, the Purkinje cell pathology is markedly worse than that of SCA1 mice. Taken together, NIs are not necessary to induce neurodegeneration, but impaired proteasomal degradation of mutant ataxin-1 may contribute to SCA1 pathogenesis.
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PMID:Mutation of the E6-AP ubiquitin ligase reduces nuclear inclusion frequency while accelerating polyglutamine-induced pathology in SCA1 mice. 1062 51


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