Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0026850 (muscular dystrophy)
 5,870 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Investigators have speculated that the degenerative process in distal myopathy with rimmed vacuoles (DMRV) mainly involves the lysosomal system. To investigate possible protein abnormalities related to intracellular lysosomal proteolytic pathways in DMRV-affected muscles, we performed immunohistochemical analyses of certain proteins in muscle biopsy specimens obtained from patients with various neuromuscular diseases, including DMRV, muscular dystrophy, polymyositis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and in normal human muscles specimens. Immunohistochemically, most muscle fibers in normal control specimens showed little or no reaction for clathrin and alpha- and gamma-subunits of adaptin-constituted adaptin proteins (AP)-1 and AP-2, respectively. Abnormal increases in these proteins were demonstrated mainly in the cytoplasm of atrophic fibers or in necrotic fibers in all diseased specimens. Particularly in DMRV-affected muscles, alpha- and gamma-adaptins were often observed inside or on the rims of vacuoles and in the cytoplasm of vacuolated fibers. Abnormal increases in Golgi-zone protein were also demonstrated in DMRV muscles. The rims of rimmed vacuoles were negative for kinectin, an endoplasmic reticulum-binding protein. Positive staining for both proteins, however, was sometimes seen inside the vacuoles in DMRV-affected fibers. These results suggest increased endocytosis at the plasma membrane as well as secretion involving transport from the trans-Golgi network of the Golgi apparatus in DMRV. Accumulation of various lysosome-related proteins within the rimmed vacuoles indicates at least some of these vacuoles may be autolysosomes.
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PMID:Increased lysosome-related proteins in the skeletal muscles of distal myopathy with rimmed vacuoles. 1105 46

The term limb-girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMD) identify about two dozens of distinct genetic disorders. Additional genes must play a role, since there are LGMD families excluded from any known locus. The aim of our work is to test a number of candidate genes in unclassified LGMD patient and control DNA samples. We selected the following 11 candidate genes: myozenin 1, 2 and 3, gamma-filamin, kinectin-1, enolase-3 beta, ZASP, TRIM 11 and TRIM 17, OZZ and zeta-sarcoglycan. These candidates were chosen for a combination of different reasons: chromosomal position, sequence homology, interaction properties or muscular dystrophy phenotypes in animal models. The exon and flanking intron sequences were subjected to molecular testing by comparative mutation scanning by HT-DHPLC of LGMD patients versus control. We identified a large number of variations in any of the genes in both patients and controls. Correlations with disease or possible modifying effects on the LGMD phenotype remain to be investigated.
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PMID:Candidate-gene testing for orphan limb-girdle muscular dystrophies. 1947 18