Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0700208 (scoliosis)
 8,574 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We report on a patient with agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC), severe mental retardation, infantile spasms and subsequent intractable epilepsy, spastic/dyskinetic quadriparesis, severe limb contractures, and scoliosis. This complex, newly described phenotype, is due to a novel non-conservative missense mutation in the ARX homeodomain (c.1072A>T; p.R358W), inherited from the unaffected mother. Differently from previously reported non-conservative mutations falling within the same domain, p.R358W did not cause XLAG. It is therefore possible that differences in clinical manifestations between our patient and those with XLAG, are related to the different position of the amino acid substitution in the homeodomain, or to the different chemical properties introduced by the substitution itself. To test the hypothesis that the patient's mother was asymptomatic because of non-random X chromosome inactivation (XCI), we performed DNA methylation studies of the human androgen receptor gene, demonstrating skewing of the XCI ratio (85:15). The complex phenotype described here combines different traits that had previously been linked to various ARX mutations, including conservative missense mutations in the homeodomain and expansion in the first ARX polyalanine tract and contributes to the expanding pleiotropy associated with ARX mutations.
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PMID:Corpus callosum agenesis, severe mental retardation, epilepsy, and dyskinetic quadriparesis due to a novel mutation in the homeodomain of ARX. 2141 97

This study reports on a 9-year-old girl who developed West syndrome and showed clinical features fulfilling the main revised diagnostic criteria for typical Rett syndrome (hand washing, severe cognitive impairment with absence of language, ataxic gait, progressive scoliosis and autistic features). Mutation analyses for methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2), cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5/STK9), ARX and Forkhead box G1 (FOXG1) genes were carried out, with negative results. A known de-novo c.1217G>A missense mutation in exon 14 leading to the substitution of a conserved residue, p.R406H in domain3b of the syntaxin-binding protein 1 (STXBP1) gene, was detected. The STXBP1 gene encodes the syntaxin-binding protein 1, a neuron-specific protein involved in synaptic vesicle release at both glutaminergic and GABAergic synapses. This function is also affected by MECP2 gene mutations, which are known to lead to a decrease in glutamate and GABA receptors' density. It is possible to speculate that the impairment in synaptic plasticity represents the pathogenic link between MECP2 and STXBP1 gene mutations. On reviewing the clinical features of the reported patients with the same mutation in the STXBP1 gene, it has been observed that poor eye contact, tremour, dyskinesia, head/hand stereotypies and both cognitive and motor progressive deterioration are common symptoms, although never considered as indicative of a Rett syndrome phenotype. In conclusion, the case described here suggests a relationship between the Rett syndrome and the STXBP1 gene not described so far, making the search for STXBP1 gene mutations advisable in patients with Rett syndrome and early onset of epilepsy.
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PMID:A de-novo STXBP1 gene mutation in a patient showing the Rett syndrome phenotype. 2571 20