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N T Bech-Hansen

Publications and source records attributed to N T Bech-Hansen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Mapping of locus for X-linked congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB1) proximal to DXS7.

A recombinant chromosome in a male affected with X-linked congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB1) provides new information on the location of the CSNB1 locus. A four-generation family with five males affected with X-linked CSNB was analyzed with five polymorphic markers for four X-chromosome loci spanning the region OTC (Xp21.1) to DXS255 (Xp11.22). Four of the males inherited the same X chromosome; one male inherited a chromosome that from OTC to DXS7, inclusive, was derived from the normal X chromosome of his unaffected grandfather and that from a location between DXS7 and DXS426 proximally was derived from the chromosome carrying the CSNB1 locus. This recombinant maps the CSNB1 locus in this family to a region on the short arm of the X chromosome proximal to the DXS7 locus.

Alleles↗
PubMed1991

Genetic heterogeneity in tuberous sclerosis. Study of a large collaborative dataset.

Tuberous sclerosis (TSC) is a multisystem autosomal dominant hamartosis whose genetics is complicated by reduced penetrance and widely varying clinical expression. Results of linkage analyses have variously suggested two different locations for a TSC gene. A collaborative dataset has been assembled to clarify the issue of genetic heterogeneity. We have now analyzed the data from a combined sample of 111 families. Using Ott's HOMOG programs, we completed three tests of homogeneity: (1) for chromosome 9q, (2) for chromosome 11q, and (3) for the combined 9q and 11q data. For test 1 the chi-square (1 df) was 21.54 (p less than 0.001), for test 2 the chi-square (1 df) was 0.13 (p greater than 0.35), and for test 3 the chi-square (2 df) was 37.61 (p less than 0.0001). Additionally, we examined the combined data for evidence that a third, as yet unlinked locus exists. Results of this last test were suggestive but not significant. Clearly loci for TSC are present on both chromosomes 9q and 11q. The maximum likelihood estimate of the proportion of chromosome 9q-linked families is 0.38, for chromosome 11q-linked families is 0.47, and for the unlinked type 0.15. Alternative explanations for these latter families include chance sampling of recombinants, nongenetic phenocopies, or misclassification.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11↗
PubMed1990

A locus for X-linked congenital stationary night blindness is located on the proximal portion of the short arm of the X chromosome.

Linkage between X-linked congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB1) and seven markers on the X chromosome was investigated in a large four-generation Albertan kindred. We detected significant linkage between the CSNB1 locus and the locus DXS255 (maximum lod score = 6.73 at a recombination fraction of 6%; confidence interval of 1% to 18%), which anchors the CSNB1 locus to the proximal region near p11.22 on the short arm of the X chromosome.

Female↗
PubMed1988

Selective messenger RNA reduction in Alzheimer's disease.

The relative abundance of 7 messenger RNAs extracted from Alzheimer and control neocortex were examined by Northern and quantitative dot blot analysis. The average yield of mRNA coding for NF-L, the 68-kDa moiety of neurofilament protein, was reduced to 27% of control when expressed as the percentage of total RNA or 14% when expressed per gram of neocortex. In contrast, the yields of 6 other messenger RNAs fell into two categories: those which were statistically significantly reduced to about 65% of control and those which were not reduced when expressed as percentage of total RNA. The anomalous low abundance of neuron specific NF-L mRNA, coding for the lowest molecular weight moiety of neurofilament proteins, in cerebral cortex of Alzheimer's disease cannot be adequately accounted for by a non-specific effect of brain damage, neuron cell loss or neurons with neurofibrillary degeneration. We speculate that this mRNA decrease is related to a functional deficit of gene expression in Alzheimer's disease, perhaps related to the non-random increase in chromatin compaction previously reported from this laboratory. The inability of neurons to maintain homeostatic amounts of NF-L transcription products may be linked to the accumulation of abnormal filamentous components characteristically associated with the diseased cytoskeleton.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms associated with immunoglobulin heavy chain gamma genes in Tunisians.

DNA polymorphisms in the human immunoglobulin gamma (gamma) region have been studied in random Arabo-Berber Tunisians and in a large Tunisian Berber kindred. Haplotypes have then been designated, based on variation in the BamHI restriction fragments containing the C gamma 1, C gamma 2, C gamma 4, and C psi gamma genes. Two new haplotypes, in addition to the four previously described, have been observed. These new haplotypes, designated H5 and H6, were confirmed by family studies. The H5 haplotype was associated with black African Gm haplotypes (Gm1,17;..;5,6,11 and Gm1,17;..;5,11) (Gma,z;..;blc3bo and Gma,z;..;blbo) and probably represents a common haplotype in the black population. The haplotype H6 may be derived from H5. One of 39 random Tunisians was homozygous for a multigene deletion. DNA polymorphisms of the C gamma genes, in conjunction with Gm markers, provide highly variable genetic markers important for the characterization of human populations.

DNA↗
PubMed1986

Duplication of the human immunoglobulin heavy chain gamma 2 gene.

The five C gamma genes in the human immunoglobulin heavy chain region show nonrandom association and segregation as haplotypes. From the study of genetic variation in C gamma genes of 58 healthy Caucasian volunteers, we have identified a haplotype that involves a duplication of C gamma 2. This haplotype contains both the 13.5-kilobase (kb) and 25-kb BamHI fragment alleles of C gamma 2. In addition, the patterns and relative intensity of BamHI fragments containing C gamma genes were those expected for genomic DNA containing three copies of C gamma 2 for every two copies of the four other C gamma genes. A new EcoRI polymorphism in C gamma 4 was useful in defining the haplotype containing the duplication. Alleles of the C gamma genes in the duplication haplotype, including Gm markers of C gamma 1 and C gamma 3 and DNA polymorphisms of C psi gamma, C gamma 2, and C gamma 4, were consistent with its origin from an unequal crossover between the two common C gamma haplotypes, H1 and H2. This recombinant haplotype, which has been designated H2;1(gamma 2 dup) to reflect its origin, occurred with a frequency of .043 in a random sample of 116 chromosomes.

Alleles↗
PubMed1985

A multigene deletion within the immunoglobulin heavy-chain region.

The immunoglobulin heavy-chain genes are located in a cluster on chromosome 14. The simultaneous absence of the human IgG1, IgG2, IgG4, and IgA1 subclasses was previously reported in a healthy Tunisian Berber and was later shown to be due to a multigene deletion. We now describe a serological and molecular study of a different deletion observed in a healthy Tunisian. Blot hybridization analysis of the proband's DNA using gamma, epsilon, alpha, and mu switch probes showed that the deletion involves a large region of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene cluster: C psi epsilon, C alpha 1, C psi gamma, C gamma 2, and C gamma 4. Incidentally, we showed that the restriction enzyme EcoRI alone can be used with the alpha probe to differentiate A2m types. The deletion described, present in a person homozygous for GM-Am haplotypes (Gm1,17;..;5,14,11,13,10 A2m2), is consistent with previous location, by association analysis, of C psi gamma between C alpha 1 and C gamma 2. There is evidence to suggest that deletions may be more common in the Mediterranean region than in North American Caucasians.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1983

Acute leukemia after radiotherapy in a patient with Turcot's syndrome. Impaired colony formation in skin fibroblast cultures after irradiation.

Colonic polyposis and carcinoma developed in a woman with Turcot's syndrome at the age of 31 years; astrocytoma developed when she was 37. Her brother and sister had died of astrocytoma at the ages of 18 and 33 years, respectively. Progressive neutropenia developed in the patient three months after radiotherapy for her brain tumor and acute myelomonocytic leukemia 19 months after treatment. Three laboratories independently evaluated cultures of her skin fibroblasts for in vitro sensitivity to cell killing (loss of colony-forming ability) by x-rays. Survival assays consistently revealed slight but significant radiosensitivity in an early-passage (six to 10 doublings) fibroblast subculture. A later subculture (21 to 29 doublings) showed no abnormality, a possible effect of selective in vitro loss of radiosensitive cells.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1983

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms associated with immunoglobulin C gamma genes reveal linkage disequilibrium and genomic organization.

We have demonstrated that restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) produced by BamHI can be used as markers for constant (C) region heavy chain genes C psi gamma (C gamma pseudogene), C gamma 2, and C gamma 4. These RFLPs were found nonrandomly associated in the population sample studied. Of the eight combinations (haplotypes) of RFLPs theoretically possible, only two accounted for a total of 88% of the 116 chromosomes examined, a value greater than the total of 25% expected from random segregation of alleles. This indicates considerable linkage disequilibrium between C psi gamma, C gamma 2, and C gamma 4. Quantitative assessment of the degree of association between C gamma gene RFLPs, Gm markers, and switch region RFLPs adjacent to C mu and C alpha 1 revealed that C psi gamma is most tightly associated with C gamma 2 (r = 0.81 and 0.95 for the two common haplotypes), suggesting that C psi gamma maps to a position lying between C alpha 1 and C gamma 2. The association analysis used here should have general applicability for studying the genomic organization of other multigene families.

Alleles↗
PubMed1983

Analysis of a break in chromosome 14 mapping to the region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus.

We have detected restriction fragment length polymorphisms associated with the immunoglobulin heavy chain C gamma genes. DNA from both parents of an individual having an unbalanced rearrangement of the long arm of chromosome 14, region q32 [Cox, D. W., Markovic, V. D. & Teshima, I. E. (1982) Nature (London) 297, 428-430], revealed distinctive patterns of BamHI fragments which hybridized with cloned probes from the C gamma 2-C gamma 4 gene cluster. The number of hybridizing fragments in both cases (five) equaled the number of known C gamma genes. Pedigree and densitometric analyses indicated that the proband did not have any maternal complement of C gamma gene-hybridizing fragments. Included on the deleted chromosomal segment was a C gamma gene having properties of the previously reported C gamma pseudogene. We also examined DNA from this family with a probe for the highly polymorphic locus D14S1, which recently was demonstrated to be tightly linked to the C gamma 1 gene locus [Balazs, I., Purrello, M., Rubinstein, P., Alhadeff, B. & Siniscalco, M. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79, 7395-7399]. EcoRI and EcoRI-BamHI fragments from both parents hybridized with a probe for this locus in DNA from the proband, indicating that, unlike the C gamma gene family, D14S1 was not deleted from the abnormal chromosome. Thus, the chromosomal breakpoint in the proband lies within region 14q32 between the two tightly linked markers, D14S1 and the C gamma 1 heavy chain gene locus. The D14S1 locus must lie proximal to the centromere relative to the C gamma gene family. The genetic variability detected with C gamma gene probes may prove useful for genetic analysis of structural rearrangements involving this region of chromosome 14.

Chromosome Aberrations↗
PubMed1983

Radiogenic male breast cancer with in vitro sensitivity to ionizing radiation and bleomycin.

A cytogenetically normal man with gynecomastia and a family history of diverse cancers developed adenocarcinoma of the breast 30 years following thymic irradiation. In vitro experiments measuring colony-forming ability of cultured skin fibroblasts from family members implied that the patient had a small but significant increase in sensitivity to ionizing radiation, and a moderate increase in sensitivity to bleomycin, a radiomimetic drug. Enhanced radiosensitivity of fibroblasts from the patient's mother, and bleomycin sensitivity of fibroblasts from the sister suggested, but did not prove, that genetic susceptibility affected the risk of radiogenic cancer in this individual. In vitro studies of cancer-prone kindreds are a useful research strategy in delineating mechanisms of carcinogenesis.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1981

Transmission of in-vitro radioresistance in a cancer-prone family.

Neoplasms of possible radiogenic origin developed in two members of a family prone to a diversity of cancers, including bone and soft-tissue sarcoma, brain and breast cancers, and leukaemia. Gamma-irradiation survival studies in these two patients and three other relatives, but not their spouses, over three generations demonstrated resistance to cell killing. The D10 value (radiation dose required to reduce survival to 10%) was significantly higher for the five radioresistant strains (491 +/- 30 rad) than for control cultures (405 +/- 18 rad). There was a significant correlation between individual D10 values and D0 survival-curve parameters, indicating that changes in the exponential slope of the survival curves accounted for much of the increase in D10 values. This novel radiation phenotype could be a manifestation of a basic cellular defect, predisposing to a variety of tumours in family members. Thus in-vitro radioresistance, like radiosensitivity, may be a phenotype of a mechanism that increases cancer risk in man.

Adolescent↗