神经系统遗传病与三核苷酸重复

三核苷酸重复与神经系统遗传病的关系引起了许多科研工作者的关注,介绍了近年来与三核苷酸重复相关的神经系统遗传病致病基因克隆的研究进展,并对其可能的致病机理作了综述.     

Comparative Genetics of Functional Trinucleotide Tandem Repeats in Humans and Apes

Several human neurodegenerative disorders are caused by the expansion of polymorphic trinucleotide repeat regions. Many of these loci are functional short tandem repeats (STRs) located in brain-expressed genes, and their study is thus relevant from both a medical and an evolutionary point of view. The aims of our study are to infer the comparative pattern of variation and evolution of this set of loci in order to show species-specific features in this group of STRs and on their potential for expansion (therefore, an insight into evolutionary medicine) and to unravel whether any human-specific feature may be identified in brain-expressed genes involved in human disease. We analyzed the variability of the normal range of seven expanding STR CAG/CTG loci (SCA1, SCA2, SCA3-MJD, SCA6, SCA8, SCA12, and DRPLA) and two nonexpanding polymorphic CAG loci (KCNN3 and NCOA3) in humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. The study showed a general conservation of the repetitive tract and of the polymorphism in the four species and high heterogeneity among loci distributions. Humans present slightly larger alleles than the rest of species but a more relevant difference appears in variability levels: Humans are the species with the largest variance, although only for the expanding loci, suggesting a relationship between variability levels and expansion potential. The sequence analysis shows high levels of sequence conservation among species, a lack of correspondence between interruption patterns and variability levels, and signs of conservative selective pressure for some of the STR loci. Only two loci (SCA1 and SCA8) show a human specific distribution, with larger alleles than the rest of species. This could account, at the same time, for a human-specific trait and a predisposition to disease through expansion.This article contains online supplementary material.     

三核苷酸重复序列失稳定机制:重复序列形成non-B二级结构的必要性和细胞反式作用因子的作用

与三核苷酸重复序列CAG.CTG、CGG·CCG和GAA·TTC扩增和缺失有关的分子机制尚不能得到清楚的阐释.体外研究表明,上述疾病相关的重复序列可以在体外形成non-B二级结构,并介导重复序列扩增.然而,迄今为止,类似的观察尚未在体内研究过程中得以实现.利用模型生物大肠杆菌和酵母等进行的有关研究并不能模拟三核苷酸重复序列的扩增,这暗示三核苷酸重复序列的体内扩增可能与重复序列形成non-B二级结构关联性并不大.尽管理论上较长的三核苷酸重复序列可以在复制和后复制过程中较易形成non-B DNA二级结构,但这样的二级结构倾向于导致重复序列出现"脆性",而不是扩增.事实上,患者所具有的三核苷酸重复序列扩增并非一定需要通过non-B二级结构的介导,这些重复序列的扩增是可以通过一种RNA转录诱导的局部DNA重复序列的复制和其后的DNA重排得以发生.     

TALEN-Induced Double-Strand Break Repair of CTG Trinucleotide Repeats

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三核苷酸双链重复序列扩展合成特性及其机理

简单重复序列在各种生物基因组中广泛存在,同分子进化、遗传多样性、分子标记和某些遗传性疾病等密切相关．本文以全部32种18 bp三核苷酸双链重复序列作为研究对象,对它们在聚合酶作用下的扩展合成进行了系统研究．探讨了反应温度、序列本身等对扩展效率和产物长度的影响．结果显示,几乎所有的序列都能扩展变长．但序列对其扩展效率有很大影响：GC含量较多的短链,尤其是一条链中同时有G和C的短链扩展效率较高;全由AC和GT组成的双链也较易扩展．短链的最适扩展温度与短链GC组成呈一定的正相关关系．琼脂糖凝胶电泳和聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳分析发现,大部分产物单一性良好,且产物分子质量的大小随反应时间线性增加;随着反应温度升高,产物差异性增大．最后分析了双链重复序列的“复制滑移”扩展机理,有望为进一步研究重复序列的分子进化和基因检测中的非特异性扩增等奠定基础．     

Repeat instability during DNA repair: Insights from model systems

Abstract

The expansion of repeated sequences is the cause of over 30 inherited genetic diseases, including Huntington disease, myotonic dystrophy (types 1 and 2), fragile X syndrome, many spinocerebellar ataxias, and some cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Repeat expansions are dynamic, and disease inheritance and progression are influenced by the size and the rate of expansion. Thus, an understanding of the various cellular mechanisms that cooperate to control or promote repeat expansions is of interest to human health. In addition, the study of repeat expansion and contraction mechanisms has provided insight into how repair pathways operate in the context of structure-forming DNA, as well as insights into non-canonical roles for repair proteins. Here we review the mechanisms of repeat instability, with a special emphasis on the knowledge gained from the various model systems that have been developed to study this topic. We cover the repair pathways and proteins that operate to maintain genome stability, or in some cases cause instability, and the cross-talk and interactions between them.     

Epigenetics and plant evolution

A fundamental precept of evolutionary biology is that natural selection acts on phenotypes determined by DNA sequence variation within natural populations. Recent advances in our understanding of gene regulation, however, have elucidated a spectrum of epigenetic molecular phenomena capable of altering the temporal, spatial, and abundance patterns of gene expression. These modifications may have morphological, physiological, and ecological consequences, and are heritable across generations, suggesting they are important in evolution. A corollary is that genetic variation per se is not always a prerequisite to evolutionary change. Here, we provide an introduction to epigenetic mechanisms in plants, and highlight some of the empirical studies illustrative of the possible connections between evolution and epigenetically mediated alterations in gene expression and morphology.     

秦巴山区儿童FRAXE脆性位点CGG重复多态性分布及与智力的相关性分析

采用PCR扩增技术和聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳技术, 并结合测序, 对秦巴山区随机抽样儿童及不同智力水平儿童的FRAXE脆性位点CGG重复序列进行检测。并把所得的CGG重复数与智测成绩(用韦氏儿童智力量表(C-WISC)进行智力测量)做关联分析。结果表明, FRAXE脆性位点CGG重复的等位基因分布范围在不同地域人群中有所差异, 同一地域人群中等位基因频率分布基本一致; 随机抽样儿童的CGG重复多态性与智力没有相关性(r=0.083, P>0.05), 男性和女性的CGG重复多态性分别与儿童智力也无相关性(r男＝0.225, r女＝-0.041, P>0.05); 在智力低下(MR)、边缘和正常儿童中, CGG重复数值之间也没有显著性差异(F=0.195, P>0.05)。因而认为, 秦巴山区儿童FRAXE脆性位点CGG的正常重复多态性(重复数为8-30)与其智力成绩亦无相关性。     

广西一脊髓小脑共济失调3型家系SCA3/MJD基因突变和多态性的分析

常染色体显性脊髓小脑型共济失调(Autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxias, ADCAs)是一种神经系统退行性疾病, 具有高度的遗传异质性, 其中脊髓小脑型共济失调3型(Spinocerebellar ataxias type 3, SCA3)是一种常见的类型。文章通过PCR扩增广西一个脊髓小脑共济失调家系SCA3/MJD基因片段, 用毛细管电泳和测序方法检测了SCA3/MJD基因的CAG重复序列大小、传递特点以及SCA3/MJD基因的变异。结果显示：家系的所有4名患者和3名无症状携带者(Asymptomatic carrier)的SCA3/MJD基因第10外显子中存在异常扩增的CAG重复序列, 重复次数为64~71次; CAG重复次数在具有cgg等位基因的正常个体间传递时保持不变, 提示cgg等位基因不是正常个体两代间CAG重复序列稳定性的影响因素。SCA3/MJD基因中另有两个单碱基点突变, 一个是内含子区的杂合性突变(IVS9-113 T>C), 另一个是外显子区域的错义突变(220 G>A, 220 Glu>Gly)。这两个点突变为首次报道, 但尚不能明确这两个新的点突变对SCA3表型的影响。     

植物中油菜素类固醇信号转导与细胞增殖(综述)

BRI1/BAK1复合体感知油菜素类固醇(BR)后,通过基因表达变化和涉及V-ATPase的快速生长诱导反应的磷酸化级联放大作用传递信号,并影响细胞增殖增长过程。本文就植物中BR调节基因表达及其信号转导与细胞增殖作一综合介绍,并对存在的问题进行探讨。     

Frustration Between Preferred States of Complementary Trinucleotide Repeat DNA Hairpins Anticorrelates with Expansion Disease Propensity

DNA trinucleotide repeat (TRs) expansion beyond a threshold often results in human neurodegenerative diseases. The mechanisms causing expansions remain unknown, although the tendency of TR ssDNA to self-associate into hairpins that slip along their length is widely presumed related. Here we apply single molecule FRET (smFRET) experiments and molecular dynamics simulations to determine conformational stabilities and slipping dynamics for CAG, CTG, GAC and GTC hairpins. Tetraloops are favored in CAG (89%), CTG (89%) and GTC (69%) while GAC favors triloops. We also determined that TTG interrupts near the loop in the CTG hairpin stabilize the hairpin against slipping. The different loop stabilities have implications for intermediate structures that may form when TR-containing duplex DNA opens. Opposing hairpins in the (CAG) ∙ (CTG) duplex would have matched stability whereas opposing hairpins in a (GAC) ∙ (GTC) duplex would have unmatched stability, introducing frustration in the (GAC) ∙ (GTC) opposing hairpins that could encourage their resolution to duplex DNA more rapidly than in (CAG) ∙ (CTG) structures. Given that the CAG and CTG TR can undergo large, disease-related expansion whereas the GAC and GTC sequences do not, these stability differences can inform and constrain models of expansion mechanisms of TR regions.     

Stable DNA Methylation Boundaries and Expanded Trinucleotide Repeats: Role of DNA Insertions

The human genome segment upstream of the FMR1 (fragile X mental retardation 1) gene (Xq27.3) contains several genetic signals, among them is a DNA methylation boundary that is located 65–70 CpGs upstream of the CGG repeat. In fragile X syndrome (FXS), the boundary is lost, and the promoter is inactivated by methylation spreading. Here we document boundary stability in spite of critical expansions of the CGG trinucleotide repeat in male or female premutation carriers and in high functioning males (HFMs). HFMs carry a full CGG repeat expansion but exhibit an unmethylated promoter and lack the FXS phenotype. The boundary is also stable in Turner (45, X) females. A CTCF-binding site is located slightly upstream of the methylation boundary and carries a unique G-to-A polymorphism (single nucleotide polymorphism), which occurs 3.6 times more frequently in genomes with CGG expansions. The increased frequency of this single nucleotide polymorphism might have functional significance. In CGG expansions, the CTCF region does not harbor additional mutations. In FXS individuals and often in cells transgenomic for EBV (Epstein Barr Virus) DNA or for the telomerase gene, the large number of normally methylated CpGs in the far-upstream region of the boundary is decreased about 4-fold. A methylation boundary is also present in the human genome segment upstream of the HTT (huntingtin) promoter (4p16.3) and is stable both in normal and Huntington disease chromosomes. Hence, the vicinity of an expanded repeat does not per se compromise methylation boundaries. Methylation boundaries exert an important function as promoter safeguards.     

Phylogenetic Analysis of the Friedreich Ataxia GAA Trinucleotide Repeat

Friedreich ataxia is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder associated with a GAA repeat expansion in the first intron of the gene (FRDA) encoding a novel, highly conserved, 210 amino acid protein known as frataxin. Normal variation in repeat size was determined by analysis of more than 600 DNA samples from seven human populations. This analysis showed that the most frequent allele had nine GAA repeats, and no alleles with fewer than five GAA repeats were found. The European and Syrian populations had the highest percentage of alleles with 10 or more GAA repeats, while the Papua New Guinea population did not have any alleles carrying more than 10 GAA repeats. The distributions of repeat sizes in the European, Syrian, and African American populations were significantly different from those in the Asian and Papua New Guinea populations (p < 0.001). The GAA repeat size was also determined in five nonhuman primates. Samples from 10 chimpanzees, 3 orangutans, 1 gorilla, 1 rhesus macaque, 1 mangabey, and 1 tamarin were analyzed. Among those primates belonging to the Pongidae family, the chimpanzees were found to carry three or four GAA repeats, the orangutans had four or five GAA repeats, and the gorilla carried three GAA repeats. In primates belonging to the Cercopithecidae family, three GAA repeats were found in the mangabey and two in the rhesus macaque. However, an AluY subfamily member inserted in the poly(A) tract preceding the GAA repeat region in the rhesus macaque, making the amplified sequence approximately 300 bp longer. The GAA repeat was also found in the tamarin, suggesting that it arose at least 40 million years ago and remained relatively small throughout the majority of primate evolution, with a punctuated expansion in the human genome. Received: 18 August 2000 / Accepted: 10 November 2000     

中国羌族人群强直性肌营养不良症基因CTG重复序列多态性研究

强直性肌营养不良症是由于MT-PK基因3'非编码区CTG三核苷酸重复序列的过度扩展所致。正常人群中CTG的拷贝数为5-30,而患者在50以上,且具民族差异。目前尚无我国羌族人群的有关资料。为了解中国羌族人群该基因3'UT R CTG三核苷重复序列的分布情况,作者采用PCR、聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳、银染和测序等技术,对60例正常羌族人的CTG重复序列进行了分析。共发现8种等位基因,其中CTG拷贝数为5的等位基因最为常见,占30 .83%,其余依次为13拷贝(22.5%)、12(19.17%)、11(15.83%)、14(5.83%)和15(4.17%);拷贝数大于15的等位基因极少,仅检测到一例,为27拷贝;CT G拷贝数在6-10之间的等位基因也很少,仅发现一例为9拷贝,而该等位基因在其它人群尚无报道。60名个体中共发现纯合子18例,其中9例为5/5,2例为11/11,2例为12/12,4例13/13和1例为15/15,杂合率为70%。本系统的多态信息量(PIC)为0.77。羌族和汉族人群该位点的多态性无显著差异。 Abstract:Myotonic dystrophy is associated with an increased number of CTG repeats in the 3’UTR of the myotonic protein kinase gene(MT-PK) located on chromosome 19q13.3.The triplet repeats region of the gene of 60 healthy Qiang subjects from Sichuan province was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.A total of 8 alleles were found ranging in size from 5 to 27copies with the most common allele of 5 copies(30.83%).The other major alleles were 11,12 and 13 copies with frequency of 15.83%,19.17% and 22.5%,respectively.An allele of 9 copies was found in a Qiang individual which has never been reported before in other populations.Only 5.83% of alleles were longer than 14 copies and one longer than 15 copies.Heterozygote frequency in this population was 70%.The CTG repeats is highly informative with a PIC value of 0.77.There is no significant difference between Qiang and Han population in the distribution of the CTG allele frequencies.     

XNP基因内多态基因座筛选及其多态性分析

从XNP基因内部筛选多态性较强的多态基因座,为连锁分析和间接诊断奠定基因,通过核酸同源性分析获得含有XNP基因的基因组克隆,并通过对比分析cDNA与基因组DNA的对应关系确定基因的非外显子序列,利用BCMSearch Launcher程序从中筛选短串联重复序列,采用PCR扩增技术和聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳方法,对所筛选出的短串联重复序列进行多态性分析,结果从XNP基因内筛选出5个短串联重复序列,多态性分析表明,其中的2个短串联重复序列（XNPSTR1和XNPSTR4）具有多态性,在100名无血缘关系的女性中,分别观察到4和11个等位基因,杂合度分别为47%和70%,XNPSTR1位于XNP基因的3′端,XNPSTR4位于第10内含子,结论是：从XNP基因内筛选出两个多态位点,可用于XNP基因的连锁分析和间接基因诊断。