Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0025362 (mental retardation)
 15,878 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Abnormalities in the muscle dystrophin-glycoprotein complex are implicated in the molecular pathogenesis of various neuromuscular disorders. Weakening of the trans-sarcolemmal linkage between the actin membrane-cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix appears to trigger destabilization of the muscle cell periphery. In addition to muscular weakness, one-third of patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy exhibit mental retardation. Since little is known about the pathophysiology of brain abnormalities in these patients, we investigated the fate of the most abundant dystrophin-associated protein, beta-dystroglycan, in the central nervous system. It was found to be present throughout all normal brain regions studied. In contrast, this glycoprotein was greatly reduced in brain microsomes derived from Duchenne specimens, while it is of normal abundance in the brain from the dystrophic animal model mdx. Deficiency in brain beta-dystroglycan might render nervous tissue more susceptible to cellular disturbances and this may result in cognitive impairment in some Duchenne patients.
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PMID:Decreased expression of brain beta-dystroglycan in Duchenne muscular dystrophy but not in the mdx animal model. 970 63

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by a defect in a 427-kDa membrane-associated protein: dystrophin. The DMD gene also encodes several shorter isoforms which are believed to participate in nonmuscle manifestations of DMD, including abnormal retinal electrophysiology, dilated cardiomyopathy, mental retardation, and hearing defects. The purpose of this work was to determine the normal tissue expression of full-length dystrophin (Dp427) and the dystrophin isoforms Dp260, Dp140, Dp116, and Dp71, to aid in understanding what roles these isoforms might play in DMD nonmuscle manifestations. RT-PCR was performed on mRNA isolated from wild-type C57BL/6J mouse tissues, including brain, cardiac muscle, eye, intestine, kidney, liver, lung, skeletal muscle, spleen, stomach, testis, thymus, and uterus. RT-PCR amplification demonstrated that the isoforms were in a number of tissues which had not been revealed by previous Western and Northern blot analyses. Dp427 was expressed at equal levels in all tissues. Dp260 and Dp140 were present in all tissues tested, but the levels of expression varied. Dp116 was expressed in a subset of tissues and levels of expression varied. Dp71 was constitutively expressed in all tissues, suggesting that this isoform plays a basic role in normal tissue function. The expanded tissue distribution supports the hypothesis that dystrophin isoforms serve essential and unique functions, necessitating further investigation into their potential roles in DMD nonmuscle manifestations.
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PMID:Redefinition of dystrophin isoform distribution in mouse tissue by RT-PCR implies role in nonmuscle manifestations of duchenne muscular dystrophy. 988 14

Linkage analysis was performed in three generations of a French family segregating a syndromal form of X-linked mental retardation. All affected males had neonatal hypotonia, seizures, muscular hypodevelopment, and severe mental deficiency. A peak lod score of 2.90 at a recombination fraction of theta = 0 was detected for DXS 1052 and DXS 451 (Xp22.13). Recombination between the disease locus and the polymorphic markers in DXS7163 and DXS1238 suggested a gene mapping to the Xp22.13-Xp21.2 region. Three candidate genes in this region were investigated: the cDNA for kinase Rsk-2 involved in Coffin-Lowry syndrome, the brain-specific exon of a transcript in the DMD locus (DP140 isoform of dystrophin), and exon 18 of the glycerol kinase gene, which is specific to fetal brain transcripts. All three sequences were normal.
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PMID:Evidence for a new X-linked mental retardation gene in Xp21-Xp22: clinical and molecular data in one family. 1049

The distal part of the human dystrophin gene is characterised by particular features and seems to play an important functional role. Additionally in recent years several data have implicated minor mutations in this gene region in some patients with mental retardation (MR). In order to screen for pathogenic mutations at the distal part of the human dystrophin gene we have used single-strand conformation analysis of products amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR-SSCA) in 35 unrelated male Greek DMD/BMD patients with no detectable deletions. Seven patients also had severe mental retardation. Direct sequencing of samples demonstrating a shift of SSCA mobility revealed six different and pathogenic minor changes, five in DMD and one in a BMD patient. Four of the mutations were found in DMD patients with severe MR. Three of these mutations were localised in exon 66, which presents an interesting similarity with part of the 3' end of the genome of eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus (EEEV). The present data from Greek DMD/BMD patients give further information about the phenotypic effects consequent on mutations in exons at the distal part of the human dystrophin gene.
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PMID:Screening for minor changes in the distal part of the human dystrophin gene in Greek DMD/BMD patients. 1019 1

The clinical and molecular features of 25 Duchenne (DMD), two intermediate (D/BMD) and three Becker (BMD) muscular dystrophy patients from 26 unrelated families were evaluated. Early psychomotor development was normal in patients with D/BMD and BMD. Learning to walk independently after 15 months of age was a risk sign of DMD in nine (36%) patients. Abnormality in crawling was seen in 13 (54%) patients with DMD. These boys demonstrated initial symptoms earlier than those who learned to crawl normally. Mental retardation was established in five (20%) patients with DMD. Deletions in the dystrophin gene were found in 11 families (48%). They were accumulated (9/11, 82%) in the distal region of the gene.
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PMID:Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies: an Estonian experience. 1039 46

Linkage analysis was performed on a four-generation family with nonspecific mental retardation (MRX59). The five affected males, ranging in age from 2 years to 52 years, have a normal facial appearance and mild to severe mental impairment. Four obligate carriers are physically normal and not retarded. A maximum LOD score of 2.41 at straight theta = 0.00 was observed with the microsatellite markers, DMD45 in Xp21.2, DXS989 in Xp22.1, and DXS207 in Xp22.2. Recombinations were detected within the dystrophin gene (DMD) in one of the affected males and between DXS207 and DXS987 in Xp22.2 in one of the carriers. These recombinants define the proximal and distal boundaries of a candidate gene region. Genetic localization of this familial condition made prenatal diagnosis informative for one of the obligate carriers.
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PMID:Regional localization of a nonspecific X-linked mental retardation gene (MRX59) to Xp21.2-p22.2. 1039 41

Severe mental retardation is a rare complication of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Here we report that two DMD cases showing severe mental retardation exhibit the same exon skipping event induced by different intron mutations. In the two Japanese DMD patients studied, the complete sequence of exon 66 of the dystrophin gene was found to be absent from the dystrophin mRNA, creating a premature stop codon in exon 67. Novel point mutations at the consensus sequence of the splice donor site of intron 66 (T9857(+2) to C in one case and G9857(+5) to T in the other case) were found to be the cause of complete exon skipping. Remarkably, severe mental retardation cosegregated with an exon 66-skipping event in their families. Furthermore, pachygyria was disclosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination of the brain of one case. Our results suggested that exon 66 skipping should be examined in DMD cases with a severe form of mental retardation.
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PMID:Complete skipping of exon 66 due to novel mutations of the dystrophin gene was identified in two Japanese families of Duchenne muscular dystrophy with severe mental retardation. 1072 62

Mental retardation is a clinical feature present in both Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy patients and its pathogenesis is still unknown. Dp140 is a dystrophin isoform with predominant expression during foetal brain development. Its promoter and first exon lie in the large intron between exon 44 and 45, a region that is commonly deleted in dystrophinopathic patients. We performed neuropsychological evaluation and genetic analysis of the Dp140 transcription unit on 12 Duchenne muscular dystrophy and 28 Becker muscular dystrophy patients carrying deletions in this critical region. Comparison of neuropsychological and molecular data showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the loss of Dp140 transcription unit and mental retardation in Becker muscular dystrophy patients (P = 0.008). Such a correlation is not evident in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients but only shows a trend towards significance (P = 0.063). It is worth noting that both Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Becker muscular dystrophy patients with normal intelligence do not show deletions in the Dp140 regulatory regions. In the light of these findings, we suggest that impairment of cognitive abilities in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Becker muscular dystrophy patients might be related to a dysfunction of Dp140 brain isoform.
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PMID:Loss of Dp140 regulatory sequences is associated with cognitive impairment in dystrophinopathies. 1073 67

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and the allelic disorder Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) are common X-linked recessive neuromuscular disorders that are associated with a spectrum of genetically based developmental cognitive and behavioral disabilities. Seven promoters scattered throughout the huge DMD/BMD gene locus normally code for distinct isoforms of the gene product, dystrophin, that exhibit nervous system developmental, regional and cell-type specificity. Dystrophin is a complex plasmalemmal-cytoskeletal linker protein that possesses multiple functional domains, autosomal and X-linked homologs and associated binding proteins that form multiunit signaling complexes whose composition is unique to each cellular and developmental context. Through additional interactions with a variety of proteins of the extracellular matrix, plasma membrane, cytoskeleton and distinct intracellular compartments, brain dystrophin acquires the capability to participate in the modulatory actions of a large number of cellular signaling pathways. During neural development, dystrophin is expressed within the neural tube and selected areas of the embryonic and postnatal neuraxis, and may regulate distinct aspects of neurogenesis, neuronal migration and cellular differentiation. By contrast, in the mature brain, dystrophin is preferentially expressed by specific regional neuronal subpopulations within proximal somadendritic microdomains associated with synaptic terminal membranes. Increasing experimental evidence suggests that in adult life, dystrophin normally modulates synaptic terminal integrity, distinct forms of synaptic plasticity and regional cellular signal integration. At a systems level, dystrophin may regulate essential components of an integrated sensorimotor attentional network. Dystrophin deficiency in DMD/BMD patients and in the mdx mouse model appears to impair intracellular calcium homeostasis and to disrupt multiple protein-protein interactions that normally promote information transfer and signal integration from the extracellular environment to the nucleus within regulated microdomains. In DMD/BMD, the individual profiles of cognitive and behavioral deficits, mental retardation and other phenotypic variations appear to depend on complex profiles of transcriptional regulation associated with individual dystrophin mutations that result in the corresponding presence or absence of individual brain dystrophin isoforms that normally exhibit developmental, regional and cell-type-specific expression and functional regulation. This composite experimental model will allow fine-level mapping of cognitive-neurogenetic associations that encompass the interrelationships between molecular, cellular and systems levels of signal integration, and will further our understanding of complex gene-environmental interactions and the pathogenetic basis of developmental disorders associated with mental retardation.
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PMID:Brain dystrophin, neurogenetics and mental retardation. 1075 78

We report on the incidental prenatal detection of an interstitial X-chromosomal deletion in a male fetus and his mother by fetal sexing with a primer pair recognizing an X-Y homologous locus (DXYS19), formerly unassigned on the X chromosome. The proband asked for prenatal diagnosis because of her elevated age and risk of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Prior to molecular genetic testing for DMD, fetal sexing was carried out on DNA prepared from cultured amniocytes. PCR analysis revealed the expected Y-chromosomal product, but did not show the constitutive X-chromosomal fragment. The absence of the X-chromosomal fragment in the fetus and on one X chromosome of the mother was confirmed by Southern hybridization of HindIII restricted DNA with probe pJA1165 (DXYS19). DXYS19X was mapped to Xp22.3 by combining several approaches, including: (1) analysis of somatic cell hybrid lines containing different fragments of the human X chromosome; (2) Southern hybridization of a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC)-filter panel provided by the Resource Center/Primary Database (RZPD); (3) FISH analysis; and (4) re-evaluation of two patients with interstitial deletions in Xp22.3. The extent of the deletion in the fetus was estimated by further markers from Xp22.3 and found to include the STS gene. Mental retardation could not be excluded since some mentally retarded patients exhibit overlapping deletions.
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PMID:Incidental prenatal detection of an Xp deletion using an anonymous primer pair for fetal sexing. 1103 67


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