A hopeful therapy for Niemann-Pick C diseases

Not abstract availabl

A familial form of convulsive disorder with or without mental retardation limited to females: extension of a pedigree limits possible genetic mechanisms

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66148/1/j.1399-0004.1990.tb03594.x.pd

Filament-Filament Switching Can Be Regulated by Separation Between Filaments Together with Cargo Motor Number

How intracellular transport controls the probability that cargos switch at intersections between filaments is not well understood. In one hypothesis some motors on the cargo attach to one filament while others attach to the intersecting filament, and the ensuing tug-of-war determines which filament is chosen. We investigate this hypothesis using 3D computer simulations, and discover that switching at intersections increases with the number of motors on the cargo, but is not strongly dependent on motor number when the filaments touch. Thus, simply controlling the number of active motors on the cargo cannot account for in vivo observations that found reduced switching with increasing motor number, suggesting additional mechanisms of regulation. We use simulations to show that one possible way to regulate switching is by simultaneously adjusting the separation between planes containing the crossing filaments and the total number of active motors on the cargo. Heretofore, the effect of filament-filament separation on switching has been unexplored. We find that the switching probability decreases with increasing filament separation. This effect is particularly strong for cargos with only a modest number of motors. As the filament separation increases past the maximum head-to-head distance of the motor, individual motors walking along a filament will be unable to reach the intersecting filament. Thus, any switching requires that other motors on the cargo attach to the intersecting filament and haul the cargo along it, while motor(s) engaged on the original filament detach. Further, if the filament separation is large enough, the cargo can have difficult

Post-meiotic gene expression

Evolutionary arguments and well-designed experiments (based on false premises, however) bad suggested that post-meiotic gene expression did not occur in animals. The technique of molecular genetics have now clearly demonstrated such genetic activity in mammalian testes. The current problem is to understand why some classes of genes, such as Zfy and many oncogenes, are expressed in this manner.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28856/1/0000691.pd

Genetic control of β -glucuronidase in murine spermatozoa

Electrophoretic studies of murine spermatozoal β-glucuronidase by acrylamide and starch gel electrophoresis demonstrated it to be the lysosomal form. There was no evidence for post-meiotic transcription of the structural gene for β-glucuronidase.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42649/1/18_2005_Article_BF02002800.pd

Polymerase chain reactions with alphoid-repeat primers in combination with Alu or LINEs primers, generate chromosome-specific DNA fragments

Y alphoid primers in combination with Alu and LINEs primers generated new DNA fragments in polymerase chain reactions (PCR) on DNA from a Y-only somatic cell hybrid but not from X-only, 3-only, or 21-only hybrids. X alphoid primers used in a similar manner generated new DNA fragments from the X-only hybrid, and 1 of the primers (X 2 ) also generated new DNA fragments on 3-only and 21-only hybrids when used in conjunction with Alu or LINEs primers. In all but one case, consensus alphoid primers generated new chromosome-specific fragments in PCR reactions with the Alu or LINEs primers. A search for cryptic Alu- or alphoid-alone PCR products as the source for one Alu -alphoid band (chosen at random) was negative. Partial sequencing of products demonstrated that alphoid and Alu sequences were indeed contiguous in some newly synthesized DNA fragments. While Alu or LINEs primers generate smears of DNA fragments on total human DNA, the alphoid-nonalphoid repeat combinations generated electrophoretically distinguishable bands of DNA when the template was total DNA. While these were distinguishable with different chromosome-specific alphoid primers, the DNA fragments were not of the same sizes as those generated with the chromosome-only hybrids.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66359/1/j.1469-1809.1991.tb00414.x.pd

Shortened primary cilium length and dysregulated Sonic hedgehog signaling in Niemann-Pick C1 disease

The Niemann-Pick type C1 (NPC1) disease is a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder due to mutations in the NPC1 gene, encoding a transmembrane protein related to the Sonic hedgehog receptor, Patched, and involved in intracellular trafficking of cholesterol. We have recently found that the proliferation of cerebellar granule neuron precursors is significantly reduced in Npc1-/- mice due to the downregulation of Shh expression. This finding prompted us to analyze the formation of the primary cilium, a non-motile organelle that is specialized for Shh signal transduction and responsible, when defective, for several human genetic disorders. In this study, we show that the expression and subcellular localization of Shh effectors and ciliary proteins are severely disturbed in Npc1-deficient mice. The dysregulation of Shh signaling is associated with a shortening of the primary cilium length and with a reduction of the fraction of ciliated cells in Npc1-deficient mouse brains and the human fibroblasts of NPC1 patients. These defects are prevented by treatment with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin, a promising therapy currently under clinical investigation. Our findings indicate that defective Shh signaling is responsible for abnormal morphogenesis of the cerebellum of Npc1-deficient mice and show, for the first time, that the formation of the primary cilium is altered in NPC1 disease

A rapid method for detection of Y-chromosomal DNA from dried blood specimens by the polymerase chain reaction

The alphoid satellite family is the only repetitive DNA family showing chromosome specificity. We have developed a simple, rapid, and reliable test for sex diagnosis based on detection of these sequences in undigested genomic DNA using the polymerase chain reaction. In our test, dried blood specimens were the source of DNA. When female DNA was used as a template for the reaction, only the expected 130-bp X-chromosome-specific fragment was detected, while with male DNA both the expected 170-bp Y-chromosome-specific and X-chromosome-specific fragments were detected. The Y-chromosome-specific fragment was further characterized by restriction enzyme analysis. The Y fragment was detectable when DNA obtained from an equivalent of 10 μl of spotted blood was used in the reaction, whereas detection of the X fragment was possible with DNA from an equivalent of 5 μl of blood. Our test may find various applications in newborn screening and in forensic science.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47625/1/439_2004_Article_BF00291168.pd