AGG interspersions within the FMR1 CGG repeat: Mechanisms and models of triplet repeat instability
- Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (United States)
Fragile X syndrome CGG repeat alleles are typically classified as normal, premutation, or full mutation based on the length of the repeat in the 5{prime} UTR of the FMR1 gene. The distinction between high-end normals and low-end premutation alleles, however, is not always clear since repeats of similar size differ markedly in their intergenerational stability. This fact suggest that differences in sequence content may play a key role in determining an allele`s predisposition to instability. It has been postulated that the loss of AGG interruptions within the CGG tract may trigger this instability. To test this model, we have developed a simple indirect method to determine the presence or absence of internal AGGs within the FMR1 CGG repeat tract. Analysis of 84 human X chromosomes for the presence of interrupting AGG trinucleotides revealed that most alleles possess two interspersed AGGs at a periodicity of 9 or 10 CGGs. The longest tract of uninterrupted CGG repeats is usually found at the 3{prime} end indicating that variation in the length of the repeat is polar. Alleles containing between 34 and 55 repeats, with documented unstable transmissions, were shown to have lost one or both AGG interruptions when compared to stable alleles of similar length. These comparisons define an instability threshold between 34 and 38 uninterrupted CGG repeats. Analysis of premutation alleles in fragile X syndrome carriers reveals that 70% of these alleles contain a single AGG interruption. Population studies confirm that such highly punctuated FMR1 CGG repeats are virtually static in terms of length variation. These data suggest that the loss of an AGG is an important mutational event in the generation of unstable alleles predisposed to the fragile X syndrome. Loss of AGG trinucleotides and polarized variability support Okazaki fragment slippage as a model for CGG repeat instability and hyperexpansion.
- OSTI ID:
- 134203
- 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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