PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A F Roux

Publications and source records attributed to A F Roux.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Evaluation of dHPLC for CX26 mutation screening in patients from southern France with sensorineural deafness.

The GJB2 gene (or CX26 for connexin 26) is one of the major genes causing nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss (NSSNHL). More than 50 sequence variations have been identified as polymorphisms or associated with autosomal or recessive forms of deafness. Though a major mutation, 35delG, is easily detectable by PCR digest; it is often present in the compound heterozygous state in our population in trans with recurrent, but less frequent, mutations. The CX26 gene is composed of a single coding exon that facilitates sequencing strategies. However, for mutation screening purposes, it is necessary to use high-throughput and cost-effective genotyping methods. Therefore, we have assessed denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (dHPLC) in patients with known mutations in the CX26 gene. We conclude that dHPLC analysis is suitable for rapid and reliable scanning of the gene in deaf patients.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Genomic sequencing reveals the structure of the Kcnk6 and map3k11 genes and their close vicinity to the sipa1 gene on mouse chromosome 19.

In this report we present the analysis of two overlapping mouse cosmid clones that contain the entire Kcnk6, Map3k11 and Pcnxl3 genes, as well as part of the Sipa1 gene. The sequence and genomic organisation of the Kcnk6 and Map3k11 genes are described in detail. Sipa1 and Map3k11, which have independently been mapped with low resolution to the centromeric region of mouse chromosome 19, are shown here to lie close to each other and to the Kcnk6 gene, which has not previously been mapped. This gene cluster maps to the vicinity of the Dancer (Dc) mutation, which involves inner ear abnormalities and circling phenotypes. Since potassium channels have been implicated in deafness disorders, we have analysed the Kcnk6 gene, which encodes a two-P domain potassium channel, in the Dc mutant. No Dc-causing mutation in the Kcnk6 coding region could be identified. However, we detected a polymorphism in the Kcnk6 gene that leads to a C-terminal extension of the encoded protein by eight amino acids.

Actins↗

Physical and transcription map in the region 14q24.3: identification of six novel transcripts.

The region of chromosome 14q24 has been of particular interest as it is known to contain one of the early-onset Alzheimer disease genes (AD3). Other genes of medical interest, such as arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, have been mapped to this region by linkage analysis or chromosome rearrangements. We have focused on the region of a balanced translocation (2;14)(p25;q24). Members of a family with this translocation all have anterior polar cataracts, suggesting the presence of a gene involved in lens integrity at the vicinity of the breakpoint. The chromosome 14 breakpoint has been defined between the short tandem repeats D14S289 and D14S277, a region of overlap for yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) 888b2 and 934d4. We have extended the study of the region to 2 Mb on chromosome 14 and present a physical map of this region, including several sequence-tagged sites. New probes were generated using several end clones and inter-Alu PCR fragments from YACs. cDNA selection was used to identify transcribed sequences. Mapping and alignment of 17 nonoverlapping cDNAs completed by sequence and expression pattern analysis suggested that a minimum of eight putative transcription units is present in this region: six of these units correspond to five new genes and one member of a new gene family.

Blotting, Northern↗

Maternal uniparental isodisomy of human chromosome 14 associated with a paternal t(13q14q) and precocious puberty.

Cytogenetic and molecular investigation of a boy with precocious puberty and motor developmental delay revealed a 45,XY,t(14q14q) or i(14q) karyotype with no paternal chromosome 14 contribution. VNTR analysis of loci on four other chromosomes excluded non-paternity with greater than 99% confidence. Results of VNTR and CA repeat analyses of ten loci along the entire length of chromosome 14 were consistent with homozygosity at all loci, suggesting that the chromosomal rearrangement was a maternal isochromosome for 14q. As the proband's father had a balanced Robertsonian translocation, t(13q14q), we suggest that the origin of the maternal uniparental disomy (UPD) was fertilization by a nullisomy 14 sperm with formation of the isochromosome in the early embryo. Also, the proband has several clinical features in common with six previously reported liveborn cases of maternal UPD 14: hypotonia and motor developmental delay, mild dysmorphic facial features, low birth weight and growth abnormalities, and, more specifically, precocious puberty among the four cases old enough to assess. The emergence of a syndrome associated with maternal UPD 14 suggests the possibility of genomic imprinting of regions of chromosome 14, especially a gene involved in the onset of puberty.

Adolescent↗

A heat shock gene at 14q22: mapping and expression.

Heat shock proteins (HSP) belong to a family of highly homologous proteins that are encoded by several genes and function as protein chaperones. A number of HSP genes have been described in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on chromosome 6. We have cloned and mapped one chromosome 14 HSP gene (HSPA2) using a genomic probe (pH2.3) derived from one of the HSP genes present in the MHC, which was previously shown to also detect sequences on chromosome 14. Screening of a chromosome 14-specific cosmid library yielded one relevant clone that contains an HSP-like sequence, showing a high degree of identity with the HSP genes from the MHC and with HSP70.2 (Hspa2) in the mouse. This new HSP gene is expressed abundantly in muscle, heart, oesophagus and brain, and to a lesser extent in testis. Its localization to 14q22 was established by using a somatic cell hybrid panel and FISH analysis. A pentanucleotide repeat motif, showing seven alleles, was also identified in the cosmid clone.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Identification of a gene from Xp21 with similarity to the tctex-1 gene of the murine t complex.

Long range physical mapping within the p21 region of the X chromosome identified a CpG rich island approximately 180 kb centromeric to the chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) locus. The segments adjacent to the CpG island hybridized to discrete bands in DNAs of several species and when used to screen retinal cDNA libraries led to the identification of cDNAs that detected a mRNA of 2.1 kb in many tissues. Molecular characterization of corresponding genomic clones of this novel human gene confirmed the origin of the cDNA clones and indicated a genomic structure with five exons spanning a total of 9 kb. The complete cDNA sequence revealed that this gene contained a putative open reading frame of 116 amino acids with a 3' untranslated region of 1.74 kb. The amino acid sequence shows a high degree of similarity to the predicted product of the tctex-1 gene of the mouse t complex. As linkage studies and patients with deletions have implicated the Xp21 region as containing the retinitis pigmentosa defect (RP3), the gene was assessed as a candidate disease gene in RP3 families. A single base pair polymorphism was identified within the coding region but no disease associated changes were found by single strand conformational polymorphism and sequencing analysis of amplified exons of 20 RP patients. Analysis of a dinucleotide repeat polymorphism within this gene in families affected with RP3 suggested refinement of the RP3 region.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Sp alpha V/41: a common spectrin polymorphism at the alpha IV-alpha V domain junction. Relevance to the expression level of hereditary elliptocytosis due to alpha-spectrin variants located in trans.

Spectrin alpha-chain mutants associated with hereditary elliptocytosis are highly variable in their level of expression. It has been assumed that the degree of elliptocytosis can be increased when the spectrin alpha chain, encoded by the alpha gene in trans to the variant, is expressed at a low level. We now provide strong evidence for the existence of low-level expression of spectrin alpha chains. This condition is referred to as the alpha V/41 polymorphism. It has been observed in 15 different families or individuals of French, North African, and African ancestry in which seven distinct elliptocytogenic alpha-spectrin variants were co-inherited. Whenever the alpha V/41 polymorphism was present, the severity of the biochemical, morphological, and, sometimes, the clinical phenotype of elliptocytosis was increased. The alpha V/41 polymorphism was also frequently encountered among 36 unrelated control subjects in the heterozygous or homozygous states, and was entirely asymptomatic in both cases. The main biochemical feature was an increased susceptibility to proteolysis of the alpha IV-alpha V domain junction. Alteration of the facing beta IV domain of spectrin was demonstrated by in vitro spectrin dimer reconstitution experiments. It appears that the alpha V/41 polymorphism is often required for alpha-spectrin elliptocytogenic variants to become manifest in the heterozygous state. Thus, alpha-spectrin-related elliptocytosis may be viewed as a bifactorial condition.

Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional↗

Evidence that expression of Sp alpha I/65 hereditary elliptocytosis is compounded by a genetic factor that is linked to the homologous alpha-spectrin allele.

Many cases of hereditary elliptocytosis (HE) result from mutated spectrin alpha-chains. It has repeatedly been observed that the amount of a mutant alpha-chain is different in various affected individuals, resulting in clinical pictures of variable severity. The different levels are thought to result from different percentages of the alpha-spectrin allele in trans. Such percentages, in turn, could be under genetic control. We tested this hypothesis in a large Algerian family with Sp alpha I/65 HE. In an informative sibship, we found three persons with a distinctly high level of expression of the Sp alpha I/65 variant, suggesting the existence, in trans, of a low percentage alpha-allele. The alpha-spectrin gene haplotype associated with the latter was constantly - + -, based on the XbaI, PvuII, and MspI polymorphic sites. In contrast, a basal level of expression of the Sp alpha I/65 variant in the same sibship indicated, in trans, the existence of a normal percentage alpha-allele. The haplotype corresponding to this other alpha-allele was + - +. Study of another generation of the family showed, however, that the - + - haplotype could also be linked to a normal percentage alpha-allele. These results are consistent with the view that the expression level of alpha I/65 spectrin (and of other types of alpha-variants) is compounded by a genetic factor that is linked to the normal alpha-allele in trans. The low percentage allele itself remains silent in the simple heterozygous state.

Elliptocytosis, Hereditary↗

Two elliptocytogenic alpha I/74 variants of the spectrin alpha I domain. Spectrin Culoz (GGT----GTT; alpha I 40 Gly----Val) and spectrin Lyon (CTT----TTT; alpha I 43 Leu---Phe).

Spectrin alpha I/74 elliptocytosis results from abnormalities involving the "head" region of spectrin dimer. Increased susceptibility to trypsin enhances cleavage of the alpha spectrin chain, yielding an increased amount of the alpha I 74-kD fragment at the expense of the alpha I 80-kD parent fragment. Recently we showed that the mutations causing the Sp alpha I/74 abnormality may lie in the alpha- or the beta-chain, and that spectrin Culoz and spectrin Lyon were two (alpha I/74) alpha-variants, respectively. We now show that the spectrin Culoz alpha I domain undergoes prominent tryptic cleavage after Lys 42, whereas cleavage prevails after Arg 39 in spectrin Lyon. Applying the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to exon 2 of the spectrin alpha I domain, we have established that the mutation responsible for spectrin Culoz is alpha I 40 Gly----Val; GGT----GTT. Applying the PCR technique to the cDNA derived from reticulocyte mRNA, we have shown that the mutation responsible for spectrin Lyon is alpha I 43 Leu----Phe; CTT----TTT. Studies of normal controls and of family members using dot blot hybridization with allele-specific oligonucleotide probes confirmed these results. Variants such as spectrin Culoz and spectrin Lyon should provide insight into a region that participates in spectrin dimer self-association and whose susceptibility to proteolysis must reflect subtle conformational changes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Spectrin Tunis (Sp alpha I/78), an elliptocytogenic variant, is due to the CGG----TGG codon change (Arg----Trp) at position 35 of the alpha I domain.

Spectrin Tunis (Sp alpha I/78) is an alpha l domain variant that causes asymptomatic elliptocytosis in the heterozygote state. It is manifested by a reduction of spectrin dimer self-association and by the development of a major 78-Kd fragment at the expense of the alpha l 80-Kd fragment upon spectrin-limited digestion. Amino acid sequence analysis, following peptide transfer onto Immobilon membranes, showed that the 78-Kd fragment results from a sensitized cleavage after lysyl residue 10. Using a 13.5-kb genomic alpha-spectrin probe and the Xbal, Pvull, and Mspl polymorphic sites detected with this probe, we concluded that spectrin Tunis is associated with the + - + haplotype (in the above order). Twenty mer oligonucleotides, complementary to genomic segments from introns 2 and 3, respectively, were synthesized. We then performed DNA amplification and sequencing. In the two investigated carriers of spectrin Tunis, we found the C----T base substitution of the codon corresponding to position 35 of the alpha l domain (CGG----TGG; Arg----Trp). The mutation lies in the last part of an alpha helix that extends from residues 9 to 44 of partial repeat alpha 1' and is comparable with helix 3 of full repeats 1 to 5. The modified proteolytic site, located 25 amino acid residues upstream, occurs at the beginning of the helix.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Molecular basis of Sp alpha I/65 hereditary elliptocytosis in North Africa: insertion of a TTG triplet between codons 147 and 149 in the alpha-spectrin gene from five unrelated families.

Hereditary elliptocytosis in North Africa is frequently associated with the alpha I/65 spectrin variant, characterized by an abnormal alpha I 65-kD instead of the normal alpha I 80-kD peptide following limited trypsin digestion of whole spectrin. A similar variant (although it yielded a 68-kD fragment) has been shown recently, in two black patients, to result from the insertion of a leucyl residue at position 148 (Marchesi et al: J Clin Invest 80:191, 1987). In order to determine if the underlying molecular defect was the same in North Africans and blacks (who originate from both sides of the Sahara Desert), we performed analysis directly at the DNA level. Starting from the DNA of an Algerian alpha I/65 heterozygote in whom the mutation was associated with identifiable RFLPs, we cloned and sequenced the alpha-spectrin gene region, which includes the mutation. We thus identified an extra leucine codon (TTG) between codons 147 and 149, the coding sequence becoming CAG TTG TTG CTG instead of CAG TTG CTG. We then used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and dot-blot hybridization of the amplified DNA with mutant and normal allele-specific oligonucleotides to screen the DNA from four other unrelated North African subjects with Sp alpha I/65 hereditary elliptocytosis. In all families we studied, these subjects were heterozygous for the TTG insertion. These results demonstrate that Sp alpha I/65 hereditary elliptocytosis has the same molecular basis in North Africans and blacks.

Africa, Northern↗

Spectrin Oran (alpha II/21), a new spectrin variant concerning the alpha II domain and causing severe elliptocytosis in the homozygous state.

We report on spectrin Oran (alpha II/21), a new spectrin variant found in an Algerian family. It was characterized by the absence of the spots that classically correspond to the alpha II domain using two-dimensional analysis of spectrin limit digests. On the contrary, the abnormal domain was represented by a new set of spots in the 21-Kd and 16-Kd regions, as demonstrated by Western blots using anti-alpha II domain polyclonal antibodies. Spectrin Oran (alpha II/21) was found in the homozygous state in two children belonging to two separate branches of the family. It yields a severe elliptocytosis. Spectrin self-association was altered. The variant was much more difficult to prove in the heterozygous state, in which it results in no clinical and virtually no morphological symptom. In all four parents involved, however, electrophoretic analysis and Western blots showed the existence of the alpha II 21-Kd and 16-Kd peptides. In one parent, who combines spectrin Oran (alpha II/21) and the alpha II type-2 polymorphism, the two-dimensional spots (52, 39, 34, and 29 Kd) were quantified and appeared reduced by 30%: there was an intermediary decrease of spectrin self-association in this person. In the three other parents, spectrin Oran combined with the alpha II type-1 polymorphism. The alpha II type-1 spots (46, 35, 30, and 25 Kd) appeared in normal range, and spectrin self-association was normal. Along with previous observations, the present data emphasize the large fluctuations of the alpha-variant percentage. Provided spectrin Oran was present in a sufficient proportion, we found an associated alteration of the beta II domain (that faces the alpha II domain in the spectrin dimer): the beta II 65-Kd fragment was reduced and the beta II 52-Kd fragment was reciprocally increased.

Algeria↗

Metronidazole kinetics in patients with acute renal failure on dialysis: a cumulative study.

Nine patients with acute renal failure who were undergoing dialysis at intervals depending on clinical state were injected with metronidazole, 7.5 mg . kg-1 iv every 8 hr. Plasma samples were drawn during the 8 hr after the first infusion, during the first dialysis session, and during the course of the fourth infusion after the first three dialysis sessions. Metronidazole and its two main metabolites (alcohol [M1] and acid [M2]) were assayed by HPLC. The plasma t 1/2 of metronidazole (6.8 hr) is of the same order as that in healthy subjects. M1 and M2 plasma levels increased continuously until the next infusion. Dialysis clearances of metronidazole and its metabolites were about 60 ml . min-1; 25% of metronidazole in the body at the beginning of hemodialysis was eliminated. The corresponding apparent t 1/2 s are 3.3 hr (metronidazole), 8.0 hr (M1), and 7.9 hr (M2). In patients with acute renal disease under hemodialysis, there was no cumulation of metronidazole and its metabolites; hence there is no need for change in dosage regimen.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

Pharmacokinetics of tinidazole in chronic renal failure and in patients on haemodialysis.

The pharmacokinetics of tinidazole after infusion (800 mg in 15 min) were studied in 12 patients with chronic renal failure (RI) and in five patients undergoing regular dialysis treatment (RD). Tinidazole elimination plasma half-life was 15.09 +/- 0.68 h (mean +/- s.e. mean) (RI) and 12.9 +/- 1.0 h after dialysis (RD), but there was a significant decrease in half-life during dialysis (4.25 +/- 0.43 h) P less than 0.001). The apparent volume of distribution (0.64 +/- 0.03 l/kg) was equal to extra and intracellular water volume and tinidazole was little bound to plasma protein (8%). There was a slight sex difference in apparent volume of distribution between male patients (0.70 +/- 0.09 l/kg) and female patients (0.59 +/- 0.10 l/kg) (P = 0.07), but as body clearance decreases in the same order, there was no modification of plasma half-life. In renal failure, pharmacokinetics of tinidazole were not disturbed because no correlation between half-life, body clearance and creatinine clearance occurred; urine elimination was about 7% of administered dose. Plasma clearance during dialysis was 49.9 +/- 3.2 ml/min and about 43% of the available drug was eliminated during the 6 h dialysis procedure. These results suggest that an additional half-dose infusion should be given after the end of dialysis in patients undergoing regular dialysis treatment.

Adult↗