The locus of a novel gene responsible for arrhythmogenic right-ventricular dysplasia characterized by early onset and high penetrance maps to chromosome 10p12-p14

Arrhythmogenic right-ventricular dysplasia (ARVD), a cardiomyopathy inherited as an autosomal-dominant disease, is characterized by fibro-fatty infiltration of the right-ventricular myocardium. Four loci for ARVD have been mapped in the Italian population, and recently the first locus was mapped in inhabitants of North America. None of the genes have been identified. We have now identified another North American family with early onset of ARVD and high penetrance. All of the children with the disease haplotype had pathological or clinical evidence of the disease at age <10 years. The family spans five generations, having 10 living and 2 dead affected individuals, with ARVD segregating as an autosomal-dominant disorder. Genetic linkage analysis excluded known loci, and a novel locus was identified on chromosome 10p12-p14. A peak two-point LOD score of 3.92 was obtained with marker D10S1664, at a recombination fraction of 0. Additional genotyping and haplotype analysis identified a shared region of 10.6 cM between marker D10S547 and D10S1653. Thus, a novel gene responsible for ARVD resides on the short arm of chromosome 10. This disease is intriguing, since it initiates exclusively in the right ventricle and exhibits pathological features of apoptosis. Chromosomal localization of the ARVD gene is the first step in identification of the genetic defect and the unraveling of the molecular basis responsible for the pathogenesis of the disease.     

Chromosomal mapping of the human annexin IV (ANX4) gene.

Annexin IV (placental anticoagulant protein II) is a member of the annexin or lipocortin family of calcium-dependent phospholipid-binding proteins. A cDNA for human annexin IV was isolated from a placental library that is 675 bases longer in the 3' untranslated region than previously reported, indicating the existence of alternative mRNA processing for this gene. Genomic Southern blotting with a cDNA probe indicated a gene size of 18-56 kb. Primers developed for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) allowed amplification of a 1.6-kb portion of the ANX4 gene. DNA sequence analysis showed that this PCR product contained a single intron with exon-intron boundaries in exactly the same position as in the mouse annexin I and annexin II genes. PCR analysis of a somatic cell hybrid panel mapped the ANX4 gene to chromosome 2, and in situ hybridization with a cDNA probe showed a unique locus for ANX4 at 2p13. This study provides further evidence that genes for the annexins are dispersed throughout the genome but are similar in size and exon-intron organization.     

Characterization of C14orf4, a novel intronless human gene containing a polyglutamine repeat, mapped to the ARVD1 critical region

Within the ARVD1 (arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy, type 1) critical region, mapped to 14q24.3, we detected an intronless gene of 4859 bp, predominantly expressed in the heart tissue. This gene encodes a 796-amino-acid, proline-rich protein showing polyglutamine and polyalanine tracks with variable length at the N-terminus and a C3HC4 RING finger domain at the C-terminus. CREB and AP-2 binding sites are present in the promoter region. The 5' flanking region contains neither a TATA box nor a CAAT box, but it is high in GC content and includes several Sp1 binding sites. Protein similarity searches revealed a significant match between the C-terminus and a human hypothetical protein, whose gene is located on the chromosome 19 long arm. The predicted protein shows PEST sequences, suggesting its rapid degradation. The novel intronless gene, provisionally named C14orf4 and probably encoding a nuclear protein, was excluded from being the ARVD1 gene.     

利用电子差异展示方法克隆人类睾丸高表达新基因SPATA11

利用NCBI中的电子差异展示(digital differential display,DDD)软件,比较来自睾丸(包括睾丸癌)与来自其它组织的EST文库,从筛查人类睾丸中高表达而在其他组织中不表达或低表达的差异ESTs入手,成功克隆了一个在人类睾丸中高表达的新基因SPATA11．RT-PCR实验证实其在成人睾丸高表达．序列分析表明该基因含4个外显子,基因组跨越2．6kb,定位于19pl3．3．cDNA编码一个含221个氨基酸,相对分子质量为24．5kD的新蛋白．Northern杂交结果显示：该基因含有1．1kb大小的唯一转录本,主要在睾丸中强表达．肝脏、肺、卵巢和肾脏中有微弱表达．而其他组织中该基因无表达．