Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004352 (autism)
32,579 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have studied the residual adenylosuccinate lyase activity in cultured lymphoblasts from a pair of siblings with infantile autism who have been previously shown to have a deficiency of the enzyme. The rates and distribution of de novo purine synthesis assessed by the utilization of radiolabeled formate by intact cells was nearly normal. We compared the steady-state kinetics and thermal stability of adenylosuccinate lyase in lysates from those cells and normal lymphoblasts. There is no evidence of inhibitory activity in the lysates of the mutant cells. The optimal pH was approximately 7.8 and was indistinguishable from that in control cells. The apparent Km in the two mutant cells lines (2.6 +/- 0.5 microM) is not significantly different from normal (3.3 +/- 0.8 microM), but the mutants displayed markedly decreased maximum steady-state velocities (6.7 +/- 1.1 compared to 13.8 +/- 0.9 nmol.mg-1.min-1). Residual activities in mutant cells show decreased thermal stability (t1/2 = 0.21 minutes at 60 degrees C as compared to 2.2 minutes), suggesting that there is a structural mutation of the adenylosuccinate lyase in the mutant cells.
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PMID:Studies of mutant human adenylosuccinate lyase. 262 96

Succinyladenosine and succinylaminoimidazole carboxamide riboside were found in body fluids from 3 children, including a brother and sister, with severe psychomotor delay and autism. Both succinylpurines were identified by acid hydrolysis, anion-exchange chromatography, and ultraviolet spectrophotometry. Concentrations of both compounds were around 100 mumol/l in cerebrospinal fluid, between 5 and 10 mumol/l in plasma, and in the mmol/l range in urine. Succinylpurines were undetectable in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma from controls but there might be trace amounts in normal urine. The compounds are dephosphorylated derivatives of the intracellular metabolites adenylosuccinate and succinylaminoimidazole carboxamide ribotide, the two substrates of adenylosuccinase (adenylosuccinate lyase, EC 4.3.2.2). Their presence indicates a deficiency of this enzyme, which is involved in both de novo synthesis of purines and the formation of adenosine monophosphate from inosine monophosphate. Assays in one patient revealed markedly decreased adenylosuccinase activity in the liver and absence of activity in the kidney. The accumulation of both succinylpurines in the cerebrospinal fluid suggests that there is also a deficiency of this enzyme in the brain and that it may be the basic defect in a subgroup of children with genetically determined autism.
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PMID:An infantile autistic syndrome characterised by the presence of succinylpurines in body fluids. 615 Jan 39

We report a new screening method for adenylosuccinate lyase (ASase) deficiency using capillary electrophoresis (CE). This enzyme defect causes secondary autism and psychomotor retardation in early childhood. In all body fluids of these patients, two succinylpurine metabolites can be found that are normally not detectable: succinyladenosine and succinylaminoimidazole carboxamide (SAICA) riboside. A Beckman P/ACE 2050 capillary electrophoresis system was used with a 47.1 cm capillary, 75 microns ID, and the P/ACE Beckman UV absorbance detector. Untreated urine, injected for 1 s, was separated in a pH 8.63 borate buffer at 20 kV. The two succinylpurines (migration times 13.36 and 13.60 min) were detected at 254 nm only in urine of patients with ASase deficiency but not in control samples.
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PMID:Capillary electrophoresis for screening of adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency. 858 67

Autism is a heterogeneous neuropsychiatric syndrome of unknown etiology. There is evidence that a deficiency in the enzyme adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL), essential for de novo purine biosynthesis, could be involved in the pathogenesis of certain cases. A point mutation in the ADSL gene, resulting in a predicted serine-to-proline substitution and conferring structural instability to the mutant enzyme, has been reported previously in 3 affected siblings. In order to determine the prevalence of the mutation, we PCR-amplified the exon spanning the site of this mutation from the genomic DNA of patients fulfilling DSM-III-R criteria for autistic disorder. None of the 119 patients tested were found to have this mutation. Furthermore, on preliminary screening using singlestrand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), no novel mutations were detected in the coding sequence of four ADSL exons, spanning approximately 50% of the cDNA. In light of these findings, it appears that mutations in the ADSL gene represent a distinctly uncommon cause of autism.
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PMID:Adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL) and infantile autism: absence of previously reported point mutation. 882 95

Adenylosuccinate lyase (ASL) deficiency is a defect in purine de novo synthesis pathway. The disease has variable clinical presentation involving psychomotor retardation, seizures, hypotonia, and autism. The presence of succinyladenosine and succinylaminoimidazole carboxamide riboside (SAICA riboside) in body fluids characterizes the biochemical phenotype. All cases of ASL deficiency described to date have been diagnosed in Europe. Using a high-resolution thin-layer chromatography (TLC) technique combining screening for ASL deficiency and disorders of saccharide metabolism, we found the first case of this disease in the US. The patient presented with delayed motor development and profound hypotonia. The family history and routine laboratory tests were negative. Screening for metabolic disorders detected the presence of succinyladenosine and SAICA riboside in urine. The activity of ASL in the patient's skin fibroblasts was 43% of controls (patient, mean = 1.20 nmol/min/mg of protein, s = 0.21, n = 3; controls, mean = 2.78 nmol/min/mig of protein, s = 0.61, n = 7). In a 15-month-old girl with profound hypotonia, we established the diagnosis of ASL deficiency by demonstrating succinyladenosine and SAICA riboside in urine and decreased residual activity of ASL in skin fibroblasts.
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PMID:First U.S. case of adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency with severe hypotonia. 916 20

Although the exact prevalence of metabolic abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders is unknown, several metabolic defects have been associated with autistic symptoms. These include phenylketonuria, histidinemia, adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency, 5'-nucleotidase superactivity, and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase deficiency. When the metabolic consequences of an enzyme defect are well defined (e.g., phenylketonuria, 5'-nucleotidase superactivity), treatment with diet, drugs, or nutritional supplements may bring about a dramatic reduction in autistic symptoms. This review evaluates evidence for metabolic etiologies in autism spectrum disorders, as well as for the efficacy of dietary and vitamin treatments. The relationship between gastrointestinal abnormalities and autism spectrum disorders is also considered.
J Autism Dev Disord 2000 Oct
PMID:Metabolic approaches to the treatment of autism spectrum disorders. 1109 86

Adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL; also called "adenylosuccinase") catalyzes two steps in the synthesis of purine nucleotides: (1) the conversion of succinylaminoimidazolecarboxamide ribotide into aminoimidazolecarboxamide ribotide and (2) the conversion of adenylosuccinate into adenosine monophosphate. ADSL deficiency, a recessively inherited disorder, causes variable-but most often severe-mental retardation, frequently accompanied by epilepsy and/or autism. It is characterized by the accumulation, in body fluids, of succinylaminoimidazolecarboxamide riboside and succinyladenosine, the dephosphorylated derivatives of the two substrates of the enzyme. Analysis of the ADSL gene of three unrelated patients with ADSL deficiency, in whom one of the ADSL alleles displayed a normal coding sequence, revealed a -49T-->C mutation in the 5' untranslated region of this allele. Measurements of the amount of mRNA transcribed from the latter allele showed that it was reduced to approximately 33% of that transcribed from the alleles mutated in their coding sequence. Further investigations showed that the -49T-->C mutation provokes a reduction to 25% of wild-type control of promoter function, as evaluated by luciferase activity and mRNA level in transfection experiments. The mutation also affects the binding of nuclear respiratory factor 2 (NRF-2), a known activator of transcription, as assessed by gel-shift studies. Our findings indicate that a mutation of a regulatory region of the ADSL gene might be an unusually frequent cause of ADSL deficiency, and they suggest a role for NRF-2 in the gene regulation of the purine biosynthetic pathway.
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PMID:Mutation of a nuclear respiratory factor 2 binding site in the 5' untranslated region of the ADSL gene in three patients with adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency. 1201 89

An Australian patient with autism was found to be heterozygous for two mutations in the gene encoding adenylosuccinate lyase (ASL), resulting in the protein mutations E80D and D87E. The patient's mother carried only the E80D mutation. The equivalent positions are 62 and 69 in Bacillus subtilis ASL. Although both human and B. subtilis enzymes normally have Asp at position 87 (or 69), the B. subtilis ASL has Ile and Asp at 62 and 65, respectively, whereas human ASL has Glu and Arg at the equivalent positions. We have constructed, expressed, and purified the double mutant I62E/D65R as a "humanized" normal B. subtilis enzyme to compare with enzymes with a single mutation at position 62 (I62D/D65R), at position 69 (I62E/D65R/D69E), or at both positions (I62D/D65R/D69E). V(max) for conversion of adenylosuccinate to AMP and fumarate is 0.57 micromol/min/mg for I62E/D65R, 0.064 micromol/min/mg for I62D/D65R, 0.27 micromol/min/mg for I62E/D65R/D69E, and 0.069 micromol/min/mg for I62D/D65R/D69E. The K(m) for adenylosuccinate is elevated in the X62D mutants, and I62D/D65R is the least stable of these ASLs at 37 degrees C. The CD spectra of mutant and wild type enzymes are similar; thus, there are no appreciable structural changes. Clearly the Asp(62) causes the most drastic effect on ASL function, whereas the Glu(69) mutation produces only modest change. These results emphasize the importance of expanding tests for ASL deficiency to individuals with developmental delay of any severity, including individuals with autistic spectrum disorder. This study further demonstrates the usefulness of the B. subtilis ASL as a model to mimic the defective enzyme in ASL deficiency.
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PMID:Two novel mutant human adenylosuccinate lyases (ASLs) associated with autism and characterization of the equivalent mutant Bacillus subtilis ASL. 1547 76

Autism is a heterogeneous disorder that can reveal a specific genetic disease. This paper describes several genetic diseases consistently associated with autism (fragile X, tuberous sclerosis, Angelman syndrome, duplication of 15q11-q13, Down syndrome, San Filippo syndrome, MECP2 related disorders, phenylketonuria, Smith-Magenis syndrome, 22q13 deletion, adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency, Cohen syndrome, and Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome) and proposes a consensual and economic diagnostic strategy to help practitioners to identify them. A rigorous initial clinical screening is presented to avoid unnecessary laboratory and imaging studies. Regarding psychiatric nosography, the concept of "syndromal autism"--autism associated with other clinical signs should be promoted because it may help to distinguish patients who warrant a multidisciplinary approach and further investigation.
J Autism Dev Disord 2005 Feb
PMID:Specific genetic disorders and autism: clinical contribution towards their identification. 1579 26

Adenylosuccinate lyase (ASL), a catalyst of key reactions in purine biosynthesis, is normally a homotetramer in which three subunits contribute to each of four active sites. Human ASL deficiency is an inherited metabolic disease associated with autism and mental retardation. We have characterized five disease-associated ASL mutants: R194C and K246E are located at subunit interfaces, L311V is in the central helical region away from the active site, and R396C and R396H are at the entrance to the active site. The V(max) (at 25 degrees C) for R194C is comparable to that of WT, while those of L311V, R396C, R396H, and K246E are considerably reduced and affinity for adenylosuccinate is retained. The mutant enzymes have decreased positive cooperativity as compared to WT. K246E exists mainly as dimer or monomer, accounting for its negligible activity, whereas the other mutant enzymes are similar to WT in the predominance of tetramer. At 37 degrees C, the specific activity of WT and these mutant enzymes slowly decreases 30-40% with time and reaches a limiting specific activity without changing significantly the amount of tetramer. Mutant R194C is unique in being rapidly inactivated at the harsher temperature of 60 degrees C, indicating that it is the least stable enzyme in vitro. Conformational changes in the mutant enzymes are evident from protein fluorescence intensity at 25 degrees C and after incubation at 37 degrees C, which correlates with the loss of enzymatic activity. Thus, these disease-associated single mutations can yield enzyme with reduced activity either by affecting the active site or by perturbing the enzyme's structure and/or native conformation which are required for catalytic function.
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PMID:Biochemical and biophysical analysis of five disease-associated human adenylosuccinate lyase mutants. 1940 74


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