0000000000368992

AUTHOR

Jürgen Spranger

Genetic disorders of connective tissues

Due to the growing knowledge of structure and function of extracellular matrix proteins, congenital abnormalities of connective tissues are identified or suspected in an increasing number of clinical disorders. In osteogenesis imperfecta and two subtypes of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, the affected matrix proteins were identified and mutations in the corresponding genes (procollagen type I and type III, respectively) could be demonstrated. Some forms of chondrodysplasia were shown to be associated with mutations in the gene encoding for the cartilage-specific collagen (type II). In part, the clinical phenotype is determined by the tissue-specific distribution of these collagens. However, the cor…

research product

A novel mutation in FGFR-3 disrupts a putative N-glycosylation site and results in hypochondroplasia

Winterpacht, Andreas, Katja Hilbert, Christiane Stelzer, Thorsten Schweikardt, Heinz Decker, Hugo Segerer, Jürgen Spranger, and Bernhard Zabel. A novel mutation in FGFR-3 disrupts a putative N-glycosylation site and results in hypochondroplasia. Physiol. Genomics 2: 9–12, 2000.—Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) is a glycoprotein that belongs to the family of tyrosine kinase receptors. Specific mutations in the FGFR3 gene are associated with autosomal dominant human skeletal disorders such as hypochondroplasia, achondroplasia, and thanatophoric dysplasia. Hypochondroplasia (HCH), the mildest form of this group of short-limbed dwarfism disorders, results in ∼60% of cases from a mut…

research product

Heterotopic ossifications and Charcot joints: Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) and a novel NTRK1 gene mutation

Abstract Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), also known as hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type IV (HSAN-IV), is a rare and severe autosomal recessive disorder. We report on an adult female patient whose clinical findings during childhood were not recognized as CIPA. There was neither complete anhidrosis nor a recognizable sensitivity to heat. Tumorlike swellings of many joints and skeletal signs of Charcot neuropathy developed in adolescence which, together with a history of self-mutilation, led to a clinical suspicion of CIPA confirmed by identification of a novel homozygous variant c.1795G > T in the NTRK1 gene in blood lymphocytes. Both parents were hete…

research product