Isolation and characterization of human brain genes with (CCA){sub n} trinucleotide repeats
- Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, AL (United States); and others
Expansion of trinucleotide repeats has been described as a new form of mutation. To date, only the expansion of (CGG){sub n} and (CAG){sub n} repeats have been associated with disease. Expansion of (CAG){sub n} repeats has been found to cause Huntington`s disease, Kennedy`s disease, myotonic dystrophy, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, and dentatorubral pallidoluysian atrophy. (CGG){sub n} repeat expansion has been implicated in the fragile X syndrome and FRAXE mental retardation. In an effort to identify other potential repeats as candidates for expansion, a DNA linguistics approach was used to study 10 Mb of human DNA sequences in GenBank. Our study found the (CCA){sub n} repeat and the disease-associated (CGG){sub n} and (CAG){sub n} repeats to be over-represented in the human genome. The (CCA){sub n} repeat also shares other characteristics with (CGG){sub n} and (CAG){sub n}, making it a good candidate for expansion. Trinucleotide repeat numbers in disease-associated genes are normally polymorphic in a population. Therefore, by studying genes for polymorphisms, candidate genes may be identified. Twelve sequences previously deposited in GenBank with at least five tandem copies of (CCA) were studied and no polymorphisms were found. To identify other candidate genes, a human hippocampus cDNA library was screened with a (CCA){sub 8} probe. This approach identified 19 novel expressed sequences having long tandem (CCA){sub n} repeats which are currently under investigation for polymorphisms. Genes with polymorphic repeats may serve as markers for linkage studies or as candidate genes for genetic diseases showing anticipation.
- OSTI ID:
- 134439
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941009-; ISSN 0002-9297; TRN: 95:005313-1173
- Journal Information:
- American Journal of Human Genetics, Vol. 55, Issue Suppl.3; Conference: 44. annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, Montreal (Canada), 18-22 Oct 1994; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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