Single cell analysis reveals gametic and tissue-specific instability of the SCA1 CAG repeat
- Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (United States); and others
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat within the SCA1 gene on chromosome 6p22-23. We performed a comparative analysis of the SCA1 CAG repeat from blood and sperm of an affected male. Genomic amplification revealed a broader smear of the SCA1 allele product from sperm compared to that from peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL). To resolve this observed difference, we analyzed single sperm directly and demonstrate that the SCA1 allele in PBL is also heterogeneous, although the range of variability in allele sizes is much less than that observed in sperm. Limited genome analysis was also performed on PBL DNA from an unaffected individual with an upper normal allele of 36 repeats in parallel with an affected individual with an expanded allele of 40 repeats. The 36 repeat normal allele, which contains a CAT interruption, was completely stable compared to the uninterrupted repeat of the SCA1 allele, demonstrating a direct correlation between absence of a CAT interruption and somatic instability of the repeat. We also analyzed the size of the CAG repeat in tissues derived from various brain regions from a patient with juvenile-onset disease to determine if the size of the expansion correlated with the site of neuropathology. The results clearly show tissue-specific differences in mosaicism of repeat length. More importantly, the pattern of tissue-specific differences in repeat-length mosaicism in SCA1 within the brain parallels those seen in Huntington disease. In both disorders the expanded alleles are smaller in cerebellar tissue. These results suggest that the observed tissue-specific differences in instability of the SCA1 CAG repeat, either within the brain or between blood and sperm, are a function of the intracellular milieu or the intrinsic replicative potential of the various celltypes.
- OSTI ID:
- 134192
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941009--
- Journal Information:
- American Journal of Human Genetics, Journal Name: American Journal of Human Genetics Journal Issue: Suppl.3 Vol. 55; ISSN AJHGAG; ISSN 0002-9297
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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