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)

Two autopsy cases of congenital muscular dystrophy of Fukuyama type (F-CMD) were described. The first case was diagnosed clinically and pathologically as its typical case. Neither his family history nor the history of his prenatal period were contributory. He had suffered from muscle weakness and atrophy since his birth. Serum CPK was markedly elevated. EMG and muscle biopsy proved dystrophic changes of the skeletal muscles. In addition, he manifested mental retardation and attacks of convulsion. EEG failed to elicit remarkable changes, but PEG represented ventricular dilatation. He died of respiratory insufficiency at age 12. His postmortem examination showed variegated anomalies in the nervous system. Extensive micropolygyria was present in the cerebrum and cerebellum accompanied by adhesions between the bilateral cerebral hemispheres. Assymmetry of the longitudinal fibers was pointed out in the pontine base. Anterior horn cells were atrophic and moderately depopulated. On the other hand, the second patient was an atypical F-CMD case in symptoms, signs and pathology. His grand-mothers on both father's and mother's sides wee first cousins. His three siblings showed no similar disorders. His mother developed slight gestational toxicosis in the sixth and seventh months of pregnancy. His muscle weakness, contracture of the bilateral hip-joints and clubfoot had been observed since his birth. Physical and neurological examinations at age 6 showed deformity of the skull, myopathic face, macroglossia, high-arched palate, pigeon chest, scoliosis of the thoracic spine. In addition, generalized muscular atrophy, hypotonia and areflexia were recognized. Pseudohypertrophy of the muscles was absent. Sensation was intact to all modalities. Serum CPK and LDH were moderately increased.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[2 autopsy cases of congenital muscular dystrophy of Fukuyama type--a typical and an atypical cases]. 652 23

Prolidase is a cytosolic exopeptidase whose deficiency causes the development of a rare autosomal recessive disorder known as Prolidase Deficiency (PD). The main manifestations of PD are intractable ulcerations of the skin, recurrent infections and mental retardation. At this time only a hazardous and expensive chronic therapy based on blood transfusions is the suggested treatment for PD. The aim of this work was to investigate the capability of utilizing liposomes as enzyme carriers: these vesicular systems have been recently evaluated as protein carriers for their potential in terms of "in vivo" localization, drug release and for protein stabilization in biological fluids. Liposomes were prepared, with a 1:1 PC:Col molar ratio with or without DSPE-PEG, by a thin-film hydration. Ex-vivo experiments were performed, incubating prolidase loaded liposomes with cultured fibroblasts from PD patients and from controls, to determine the amount of active enzyme delivered to cells. Evaluation of liposomes toxicity on cultured skin fibroblasts showed that liposomes did not interfere with cellular growth. Results showed that all the active prolidase encapsulated in the liposomes was completely vehiculated inside fibroblasts after 6 days incubation. SEM analysis suggests that prolidase is vehiculated inside the cell through liposome endocytosis.
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PMID:Intracellular delivery of liposome-encapsulated prolidase in cultured fibroblasts from prolidase-deficient patients. 1565 44

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a metabolic disorder due primarily to mutations in the PAH gene that impair both phenylalanine hydroxylase activity and disposal of l-phenylalanine from the normal diet. Excess phenylalanine is toxic to cognitive development and a low-phenylalanine diet prevents mental retardation, but it is a difficult therapeutic option. Previous studies with recombinant phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, PAL, demonstrated pharmacologic and physiologic proofs of principle for PAL as an alternative therapy for PKU but its immunogenicity was problematic. From a series of formulations of linear and branched polyethylene glycols chemically conjugated to PAL, we have created a parenteral therapeutic agent for PKU treatment. All the pegylated molecules were fully characterized in vitro and the most promising formulations were then tested in vivo in the PKU mouse model. The linear 20-kDa PEG-PAL combination abolished in vivo immunogenicity after repeated challenge while retaining full catabolic activity against phenylalanine, suggesting potential as a novel PKU therapeutic.
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PMID:Development of pegylated forms of recombinant Rhodosporidium toruloides phenylalanine ammonia-lyase for the treatment of classical phenylketonuria. 1592 70

Prolidase is a Mn(2+)-dependent dipeptidase that cleaves imidodipeptides containing C-terminal proline or hydroxyproline. In humans, a lack of prolidase activity causes prolidase deficiency, a rare autosomal recessive disease, characterized by a wide range of clinical outcomes, including severe skin lesions, mental retardation, and infections of the respiratory tract. In this study, recombinant prolidase was produced as a fusion protein with an N-terminal histidine tag in eukaryotic and prokaryotic hosts and purified in a single step using immobilized metal affinity chromatography. The enzyme was characterized in terms of activity against different substrates, in the presence of various bivalent ions, in the presence of the strong inhibitor Cbz-Pro, and at different temperatures and pHs. The recombinant enzyme with and without a tag showed properties mainly indistinguishable from those of the native prolidase from fibroblast lysate. The protein yield was higher from the prokaryotic source, and a detailed long-term stability study of this enzyme at 37 degrees C was therefore undertaken. For this analysis, an 'on-column' digestion of the N-terminal His tag by Factor Xa was performed. A positive effect of Mn(2+) and GSH in the incubation mixture and high stability of the untagged enzyme are reported. Poly(ethylene glycol) and glycerol had a stabilizing effect, the latter being the more effective. In addition, no significant degradation was detected after up to 6 days of incubation with cellular lysate. Generation of the prolidase in Escherichia coli, because of its high yield, stability, and similarity to native prolidase, appears to be the best approach for future structural studies and enzyme replacement therapy.
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PMID:Human recombinant prolidase from eukaryotic and prokaryotic sources. Expression, purification, characterization and long-term stability studies. 1708 Nov 96

Little is known about the mechanism by which ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME) produces genotoxic effects in humans. The authors found that individuals exposed in utero to EGME showed characteristic dysmorphic features, unexplained mental retardation, and persistent cytogenetic damage. They hypothesized that these individuals had a higher level of terminal chromosome arrangements, accounting for the genomic instability detected. Results indicate that in utero-exposed individuals have significantly reduced telomeres relative to non-in utero-exposed participants. The M +/- SEM pixel intensity in the in utero-exposed participants was 43.6 +/- 7.6 compared with 74.1 +/- 1.9 in the non-in utero-exposed. Findings suggest that exposure to EGME in utero could result in terminal chromosome rearrangements and shortening of telomere length, leading to the observed dysmorphic features and idiopathic mental retardation.
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PMID:Reduction in telomere length in individuals exposed in utero to glycol ether. 1840 Jun 57