0000000000249261
AUTHOR
Peter Bauer
SIL1 mutations and clinical spectrum in patients with Marinesco-Sjogren syndrome.
Marinesco-Sjogren syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive multisystem disorder featuring cerebellar ataxia, early-onset cataracts, chronic myopathy, variable intellectual disability and delayed motor development. More recently, mutations in the SIL1 gene, which encodes an endoplasmic reticulum resident co-chaperone, were identified as the main cause of Marinesco-Sjogren syndrome. Here we describe the results of SIL1 mutation analysis in 62 patients presenting with early-onset ataxia, cataracts and myopathy or combinations of at least two of these. We obtained a mutation detection rate of 60% (15/25) among patients with the characteristic Marinesco-Sjogren syndrome triad (ataxia, cataracts, m…
PRRT2 mutations are the major cause of benign familial infantile seizures.
Mutations in PRRT2 have been described in paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD) and infantile convulsions with choreoathetosis (PKD with infantile seizures), and recently also in some families with benign familial infantile seizures (BFIS) alone. We analyzed PRRT2 in 49 families and three sporadic cases with BFIS only of Italian, German, Turkish, and Japanese origin and identified the previously described mutation c.649dupC in an unstable series of nine cytosines to occur in 39 of our families and one sporadic case (77% of index cases). Furthermore, three novel mutations were found in three other families, whereas 17% of our index cases did not show PRRT2 mutations, including a large fami…
Multiple testing of pairs of one-sided hypotheses
Two-sided test procedures fork real parameters should point out in the case of rejection whether the left or the right alternative can be assumed. This sets up a multiple testing problem fork pairs of one-sided hypotheses. Holm's (1979, Scandinavian Journal of Statistics 6:65–70) sequentially rejective test provides a solution the critical levels of which are slightly improved. Considerable improvement is obtained when the hypotheses are redefined to be disjoint in pairs.
A total of 220 patients with autosomal dominant spastic paraplegia do not display mutations in the SLC33A1 gene (SPG42).
The most frequent causes of autosomal dominant (AD) hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSP) (ADHSP) are mutations in the SPAST gene (SPG4 locus). However, roughly 60% of patients are negative for SPAST mutations, despite their family history being compatible with AD inheritance. A mutation in the gene for an acetyl-CoA transporter (SLC33A1) has recently been reported in one Chinese family to cause ADHSP-type SPG42. In this study, we screened 220 independent SPAST mutation-negative ADHSP samples for mutations in the SLC33A1 gene by high-resolution melting curve analysis. Conspicuous samples were validated by direct sequencing. Moreover, copy number variations affecting SLC33A1 were screened by …
Repeat expansion in spinocerebellar ataxia type 17 alleles of the TATA-box binding protein gene: an evolutionary approach.
The variability and mutational changes of the CAG microsatellite in the TATA-box binding protein gene (TBP) were studied. We sequenced the microsatellite of the TBP gene of 25 unrelated individuals from northern Germany (10 SCA17 patients and 15 unaffected control individuals). In addition, the microsatellites were sequenced from individuals of 10 northern German families with at least one family member affected by SCA17. To study also the evolutionary history of this CAG/CAA microsatellite in nonhuman primates, the homologous regions were analysed from Pan troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus, P. abellii, Hylobates lar, Nomascus leucogenys, Symphalangus syndactylus, Macaca mulatta,…
A Revised Timescale for Human Evolution Based on Ancient Mitochondrial Genomes
Summary Background Recent analyses of de novo DNA mutations in modern humans have suggested a nuclear substitution rate that is approximately half that of previous estimates based on fossil calibration. This result has led to suggestions that major events in human evolution occurred far earlier than previously thought. Results Here, we use mitochondrial genome sequences from ten securely dated ancient modern humans spanning 40,000 years as calibration points for the mitochondrial clock, thus yielding a direct estimate of the mitochondrial substitution rate. Our clock yields mitochondrial divergence times that are in agreement with earlier estimates based on calibration points derived from e…
AP5Z1/SPG4 8 frequency in autosomal recessive and sporadic spastic paraplegia
Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSP) constitute a rare and highly heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders, defined clinically by progressive lower limb spasticity and pyramidal weakness. Autosomal recessive HSP as well as sporadic cases present a significant diagnostic challenge. Mutations in AP5Z1, a gene playing a role in intracellular membrane trafficking, have been recently reported to be associated with spastic paraplegia type 48 (SPG48). Our objective was to determine the relative frequency and clinical relevance of AP5Z1 mutations in a large cohort of 127 HSP patients. We applied a targeted next-generation sequencing approach to analyze all coding exons of the AP5Z1 gene. …
Amplicon-based high-throughput pooled sequencing identifies mutations in CYP7B1 and SPG7 in sporadic spastic paraplegia patients
Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a neurodegenerative disorder defined clinically by progressive lower limb spasticity and weakness. HSP is a genetically highly heterogeneous condition with at least 46 gene loci identified so far, involving X-linked, autosomal recessive (AR) and autosomal dominant inheritance. For correct diagnosis, molecular testing is essential because clinical parameters by themselves are not reliable to differentiate HSP forms. The purpose of this study was to establish amplicon-based high-throughput genotyping for AR-HSP. A sample of 187 index cases with apparently sporadic or recessive spastic paraplegia were analyzed by applying an array-based amplification stra…