A subset of familial and sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS-a fatal disorder characterised by progressive motor neuron degeneration) cases are due to mutations in the gene encoding Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1).
A subset of familial and sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS-a fatal disorder characterised by progressive motor neuron degeneration) cases are due to mutations in the gene encoding Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1).
We investigated the expression of the human SOD1 gene at a cellular level in the motoneurons of patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and normal control subjects, using a quantitative in situ hybridization technique.
Eight of 38 patients (21%) with familial and 5 of 175 patients (3%) with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) had missense mutations in the SOD-1 gene.Two novel mutations were identified.
We next characterized the genomic organization of the EAAT2 gene and used single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis of genomic DNA to identify one novel mutation in a single SALS patient and two novel mutations in 2 affected FALS siblings.
Sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an age-associated disease with cytoskeletal abnormalities and death of motor neurons; familial ALS (FALS), an autosomal dominant disease linked to mutations in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), is manifested by inclusions and degeneration of motor neurons.
By Northern blot hybridization, SALS was associated with increased mRNA for C1qB and clusterin in the motor cortex (Brodmann area A4), but not in superior temporal cortex (A17), relative to neurologically normal controls.
By Northern blot hybridization, SALS was associated with increased mRNA for C1qB and clusterin in the motor cortex (Brodmann area A4), but not in superior temporal cortex (A17), relative to neurologically normal controls.
Two abnormal SOD1 mRNAs, exon 2-skipping and exon 2 and 3-skipping species, were identified from occipital brain tissue of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients carrying no mutations in the SOD1 gene.
We have investigated the functional impact of a naturally occurring mutation of the human glutamate transporter GLT1 (EAAT2), which had been detected in a patient with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.