Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0039730 (thalassemia)
 10,305 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the 5' noncoding region and the first 74 amino acids of the nonfunctional beta-globin mRNA in a patient with homozygous beta 0 thalassemia. We identified the molecular defect as a single nucleotide substitution in the coding region of the mRNA. At the position corresponding to amino acid 17, replacement of an adenine by a uracil changes the triplet AAG, which codes for lysine in the normal beta chain, to an amber termination codon, UAG. This type of beta 0 thalassemia represents an example of a nonsense mutation in man.
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PMID:beta 0 thalassemia, a nonsense mutation in man. 8 35

The common form of beta thalassaemia associated with elevated haemoglobin A2 levels can be broadly classified as beta + or beta 0 type according to the presence or absence of beta-globin chain synthesis in the homozygous state. The molecular pathology of each type is heterogeneous. Apart from a subgroup of Indo-Pakistani patients, the beta-globin structural gene is intact in the majority of patients with beta 0 thalassaemia. The amount of beta-globin mRNA present in the reticulocytes of these patients varies: in some it is absent or barely detectable; in others, a substantial amount is present, but it is nonfunctional. We recently demonstrated that the molecular lesion in a Chinese patient with nonfunctional beta-globin mRNA was due to the mutation of the normal lysine codon AAG at amino acid 17 to the amber terminator codon UAG, which prematurely terminates the beta-globin chain. In the present study we demonstrate the first example of a nonsense mutation in humans which can be suppressed in vitro by the suppressor tRNA, as has been found in other eukaryotic cells and viruses.
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PMID:Suppression of the nonsense mutation in homozygous beta 0 thalassaemia. 49 26

An American Negro woman was found to have HbH disease in association with HbG Philadelphia (alpha68-asn leads to lys). Starch gel electrophoresis failed to reveal the presence of any HbA or HbA2 and studies of globin chain synthesis indicated absence of alphaA production. The alphaG/beta synthesis ratio was 0.63. The woman's son and her two half-sibs had alpha-thalassaemia trait with no HbH and alpha/beta synthesis ratios of 0.84, 0.84 and 0.76. The data indicate that there is no functioning alphaA gene linked to the alphaG gene. The absence of alphaA synthesis by the propositus also indicates that the alpha-thalssaemia gene trans to the alphaG gene completely suppresses alpha chain production, the first evidence for such a gene in Negroes.
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PMID:The interaction of alpha-thalassaemia and haemoglobin G Philadelphia. 124 89

Clinical, hematologic and hemoglobin composition data on the first case of Hb 0-Arab in association with beta 0-thalassemia in Yugoslavia are reported here. The propositus was a 26-years-old female from Strumica who was admitted to the hospital for several times because of anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, occasional abdominal pains, malaise and fatigue. Laboratory results presented: Hb 10.0 g/dl, RBC 3.84.10(12)/L, PCV 0.260 l/l, MCV 68 fl, MCH 26 pg, reticulocyte count 1.8%, anisopoikilocytosis, polychromasis, numerous target cells, total bilirubin 2.1 mg/dl, (indirect 1.7 mg/dl), serum-Fe 32.3 microM/L. A starch gel electrophoresis of hemolysate provided evidence for the presence of abnormal hemoglobin (approximately 85%) and Hb F (approximately 15%); the Hb A was absent. Familial screening showed her father was heterozygous for the abnormal hemoglobin, whereas the mother was heterozygous for beta-thalassemia. In vitro biosynthesis disclosed a total absence of beta globin and reduced synthesis of beta x x and gamma globin. The alpha/beta x + gamma-globin ratio was 1.77 (normal, 1.0 + 0.1). Amino acid analysis revealed that lysine substituted for glutamic acid at the position one hundred twenty-one of the beta chain (= Hb 0-Arab or beta 121 Glu----Lys).
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PMID:[Hemoglobin O Arab in interaction with beta 0-thalassemia]. 273 98

A minor hemoglobin (Hb) component with the electrophoretic properties of the delta-chain variant Hb A(2') was encountered in two unrelated families of Russian-Jewish ancestry. This minor component, designated Hb NYU, was shown to result from the substitution of lysine for asparagine at delta(12). We have confirmed studies of others that hemoglobin A(2') isolated from the hemoglobin of some African subjects, results from the replacement of the normal glycine at delta(16) by arginine. Thus for interpretations of the incidence of delta-chain variants in different populations, electrophoretic data are not sufficient. In members of one of the families in the present study, the visual estimations of normal Hb A(2) and of Hb NYU on starch-gel electrophoretic patterns suggested the presence of delta-thalassemia. In hemolysates of one of the heterozygotes for Hb NYU, hemoglobin A(2) was not demonstrable with starch-gel electrophoretic methods but was readily recovered by column chromatography in approximately the amounts expected for delta-chain heterozygotes.
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PMID:Hemoglobin NYU, a delta chain variant, alpha 2 delta 2 lys. 582 70

The authors report a case, not described so far in literature, of an association of HbJ-Broussais [alpha (90 (PG2) lys-->asn beta 2] with beta + thalassemia in a young girl born of Italian father and Breton mother. This association is clinically silent. Biochemistry revealed, besides HbA, the presence of HbJ-Broussais in the proportion of 19.4% and HbA2 value of 3.9%. These percentages, slightly lower than expected, are explained. A familial study is presented.
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PMID:Fortuitous diagnosis of the association of hemoglobin J-Broussais with beta + thalassemia. 909 11

Hemoglobin E (HbE; alpha2beta226glu-lys), globally the commonest hemoglobin variant, is synthesized at a slightly reduced rate and has a homozygous phenotype similar to heterozygous beta thalassemia. Yet, when it is inherited together with a beta thalassemia allele, the resulting condition, HbE/beta thalassemia, is sometimes characterized by a severe, transfusion-dependent thalassemia major. The severity of this interaction has not been explained. We have explored the possibility that it may reflect the instability of HbE consequent upon globin chain imbalance imposed by the beta thalassemia allele. Time-course and pulse-chase globin chain synthesis studies at 37 degrees C on peripheral blood and bone marrow suggest that hemoglobin instability is not significant in steady-state HbE/beta thalassemia; this is confirmed by density-gradient centrifugation studies that show no decrease in HbE levels relative to HbA as HbE/beta+ thalassemia red blood cells age. Globin binding to membranes was assessed and only alpha globin chains were found, in contrast to other unstable hemoglobins in which both alpha and beta chains were present. However, in experiments performed on blood from HbE/beta thalassemics in the temperature range 39 degrees C to 41 degrees C, there was evidence of instability of HbE, a finding that was also observed in homozygous HbE. These findings suggest that the phenotype of HbE/beta thalassemia is primarily the result of the interaction of two beta thalassemia alleles; however, hemoglobin instability may be important during febrile episodes, contributing to worsening anemia.
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PMID:Is hemoglobin instability important in the interaction between hemoglobin E and beta thalassemia? 973 Oct 73

ATRX is a centromeric heterochromatin binding protein belonging to the SNF2 family of helicase/ATPases with chromatin remodeling activity. Mutations in the human ATRX gene result in X-linked alpha-thalassaemia with mental retardation (ATRX) syndrome and correlate with changes in methylation of repetitive DNA sequences. We show here that ATRX also functions to regulate key stages of meiosis in mouse oocytes. At the germinal vesicle (GV) stage, ATRX was found associated with the perinucleolar heterochromatin rim in transcriptionally quiescent oocytes. Phosphorylation of ATRX during meiotic maturation is dependent upon calcium calmodulin kinase (CamKII) activity. Meiotic resumption also coincides with deacetylation of histone H4 at lysine 5 (H4K5 Ac) while ATRX and histone H3 methylated on lysine 9 (H3K9) remained bound to the centromeres and interstitial regions of condensing chromosomes, respectively. Inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs) with trichostatin A (TSA) disrupted ATRX binding to the centromeres of hyperacetylated chromosomes resulting in abnormal chromosome alignments at metaphase II (MII). Similarly, while selective ablation of ATRX by antibody microinjection and RNA interference (RNAi) had no effect on the progression of meiosis, it had severe consequences for the alignment of chromosomes on the metaphase II spindle. These results suggest that genome-wide epigenetic modifications such as global histone deacetylation are essential for the binding of ATRX to centromeric heterochromatin. Moreover, centromeric ATRX is required for correct chromosome alignment and organization of a bipolar meiotic metaphase II spindle.
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PMID:ATRX, a member of the SNF2 family of helicase/ATPases, is required for chromosome alignment and meiotic spindle organization in metaphase II stage mouse oocytes. 1524 86

During recent years, atomic force microscopy has become a powerful technique for studying the mechanical properties (such as stiffness, viscoelasticity, hardness and adhesion) of various biological materials. The unique combination of high-resolution imaging and operation in physiological environment made it useful in investigations of cell properties. In this work, the microscope was applied to measure the stiffness of human red blood cells (erythrocytes). Erythrocytes were attached to the poly-L-lysine-coated glass surface by fixation using 0.5% glutaraldehyde for 1 min. Different erythrocyte samples were studied: erythrocytes from patients with hemolytic anemias such as hereditary spherocytosis and glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase deficiency patients with thalassemia, and patients with anisocytosis of various causes. The determined Young's modulus was compared with that obtained from measurements of erythrocytes from healthy subjects. The results showed that the Young's modulus of pathological erythrocytes was higher than in normal cells. Observed differences indicate possible changes in the organization of cell cytoskeleton associated with various diseases.
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PMID:Stiffness of normal and pathological erythrocytes studied by means of atomic force microscopy. 1644 79

Histone covalent modifications regulate many, if not all, DNA-templated processes, including gene expression and DNA damage response. The biological consequences of histone modifications are mediated partially by evolutionarily conserved "reader/effector" modules that bind to histone marks in a modification- and context-specific fashion and subsequently enact chromatin changes or recruit other proteins to do so. Recently, the Plant Homeodomain (PHD) finger has emerged as a class of specialized "reader" modules that, in some instances, recognize the methylation status of histone lysine residues, such as histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4). While mutations in catalytic enzymes that mediate the addition or removal of histone modifications (i.e., "writers" and "erasers") are already known to be involved in various human diseases, mutations in the modification-specific "reader" proteins are only beginning to be recognized as contributing to human diseases. For instance, point mutations, deletions or chromosomal translocations that target PHD fingers encoded by many genes (such as recombination activating gene 2 (RAG2), Inhibitor of Growth (ING), nuclear receptor-binding SET domain-containing 1 (NSD1) and Alpha Thalassaemia and Mental Retardation Syndrome, X-linked (ATRX)) have been associated with a wide range of human pathologies including immunological disorders, cancers, and neurological diseases. In this review, we will discuss the structural features of PHD fingers as well as the diseases for which direct mutation or dysregulation of the PHD finger has been reported. We propose that misinterpretation of the epigenetic marks may serve as a general mechanism for human diseases of this category. Determining the regulatory roles of histone covalent modifications in the context of human disease will allow for a more thorough understanding of normal and pathological development, and may provide innovative therapeutic strategies wherein "chromatin readers" stand as potential drug targets.
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PMID:PHD fingers in human diseases: disorders arising from misinterpreting epigenetic marks. 1868 56


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