Researchers discover 2 genetic flaws behind common form of inherited muscular dystrophy

HomeScience ReportsReports and NewsLife Sciences

Researchers discover 2 genetic flaws behind common form of inherited muscular dystrophy

12.11.2012

Latest in a series of groundbreaking discoveries

An international research team co-led by a scientist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified two genetic factors behind the third most common form of muscular dystrophy. The findings, published online in Nature Genetics, represent the latest in the team's series of groundbreaking discoveries begun in 2010 regarding the genetic causes of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, or FSHD.

The team, co-led by Stephen Tapscott, M.D., Ph.D., a member of the Hutchinson Center's Human Biology Division, discovered that a rare variant of FSHD, called type 2, which accounts for about 5 percent of cases, is caused by two genetic mutations that together cause the production of muscle-damaging toxins responsible for causing symptoms of this progressive muscle disease.

Specifically, the researchers found that a combination of genetic variants on chromosomes 4 (called DUX4) and 18 (called SMCHD1) can cause type 2 FSHD. The DUX4 variant was first described by the research team in 2010 as a mechanism behind the more common, type 1, version of the disease.

"Many diseases caused by a single gene mutation have been identified during the last several decades, but it has been more difficult to identify the genetic basis of diseases that are caused by the intersection of multiple genetic flaws," Tapscott said. "Recent advances in DNA sequencing made this study possible and it is likely that other diseases caused by the inheritance of multiple genetic variants will be identified in the coming years." Understanding the genetic mechanisms of type 2 FSHD could lead to new biomarker-based tests for diagnosing the disease and could lead to the development of future treatments, Tapscott said.

FSHD affects about half a million people worldwide. Symptoms usually first appear around age 20 and are characterized by a progressive, gradual loss of muscle strength, particularly in the upper body.
In addition to Tapscott and other Hutchinson Center researchers, other key members of the research team included Daniel G. Miller, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington; Rabi N. Tawil, M.D., a professor of neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center; and Silvère van der Maarel, Ph.D., a professor of medical epigenetics at Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands; plus investigators from Raboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in The Netherlands and Nice University Hospital in France.

Funding for the research came from multiple institutions at the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Human Genome Research Institute and the National Genetics Institute), Friends of FSH Research, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the University of Rochester Medical Center Fields Center for FSHD and Neuromuscular Research.

At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home to three Nobel laureates, interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists seek new and innovative ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. The Hutchinson Center's pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation led to the development of immunotherapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to treat cancer with minimal side effects. An independent, nonprofit research institute based in Seattle, the Hutchinson Center houses the nation's first and largest cancer prevention research program, as well as the clinical coordinating center of the Women's Health Initiative and the international headquarters of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Private contributions are essential for enabling Hutchinson Center scientists to explore novel research opportunities that lead to important medical breakthroughs. For more information visit www.fhcrc.org or follow the Hutchinson Center on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

Kristen Woodward | EurekAlert!
Further information:
http://www.fhcrc.org

All articles from Life Sciences >>>

The most recent press releases about innovation >>>

Die letzten 5 Focus-News des innovations-reports im Überblick:

Im Focus: Regensburg physicists watch electron transfer in a single molecule

For the first time, an international team of scientists based in Regensburg, Germany, has recorded the orbitals of single molecules in different charge states in a novel type of microscopy. The research findings are published under the title “Mapping orbital changes upon electron transfer with tunneling microscopy on insulators” in the prestigious journal “Nature”.

The building blocks of matter surrounding us are atoms and molecules. The properties of that matter, however, are often not set by these building blocks...

Im Focus: University of Konstanz gains new insights into the recent development of the human immune system

Scientists at the University of Konstanz identify fierce competition between the human immune system and bacterial pathogens

Cell biologists from the University of Konstanz shed light on a recent evolutionary process in the human immune system and publish their findings in the...

Im Focus: Transformation through Light

Laser physicists have taken snapshots of carbon molecules C₆₀ showing how they transform in intense infrared light

When carbon molecules C₆₀ are exposed to an intense infrared light, they change their ball-like structure to a more elongated version. This has now been...

Im Focus: Famous “sandpile model” shown to move like a traveling sand dune

Researchers at IST Austria find new property of important physical model. Results published in PNAS

The so-called Abelian sandpile model has been studied by scientists for more than 30 years to better understand a physical phenomenon called self-organized...

Im Focus: Cryo-force spectroscopy reveals the mechanical properties of DNA components

Physicists from the University of Basel have developed a new method to examine the elasticity and binding properties of DNA molecules on a surface at extremely low temperatures. With a combination of cryo-force spectroscopy and computer simulations, they were able to show that DNA molecules behave like a chain of small coil springs. The researchers reported their findings in Nature Communications.

DNA is not only a popular research topic because it contains the blueprint for life – it can also be used to produce tiny components for technical applications.

All Focus news of the innovation-report >>>

Top