Deficiency of laminin alpha2 chain caused by mutations of the LAMA2 gene on chromosome 6q2 account for approximately 50% of cases of congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) in white patients.
Mutation analysis revealed two distinct mutations: a c.8005delT frameshift deletion in exon 56 of the LAMA2 (laminin-α2) gene (MDC1A) was found in the CMD patient and a new homozygous mutation c.1536+1G>T in the donor splice site of intron 12 of the CAPN3 (calpain3) gene (LGMD2A) was found in the LGMD patients.
Forty-one patients with CMD, either collagen 6 related disorders (COL6-RD; n = 21) or laminin α-2-related disorders (LAMA2-RD; n = 20), and 21 healthy pediatric controls underwent 2 yearly EIM exams.
Approximately half the cases of classical congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) have a pronounced deficiency or absence of the laminin alpha 2 chain of laminin-2 (merosin).
Molecular genetics revealed 2 pathogenic LAMA2 mutations in 5 of 18 CMD and 3 of 128 LGMD patients, corresponding to a LAMA2-mutation frequency of 28% in the CMD and 2.3% in the LGMD cohorts, respectively.
We performed dentofacial examination of patients with CMD and evaluated consequences of orthodontic movement in a mouse model carrying a CMD knock-in (KI) mutation (Phe377del) in the Ank gene.
We report three patients who harbored compound heterozygous POMT1 mutations and showed left ventricular (LV) dilation and/or decrease in myocardial contractile force: two had a LGMD phenotype with a normal or close-to-normal cognitive profile and one had CMD with mental retardation and normal brain MRI.
We performed dentofacial examination of patients with CMD and evaluated consequences of orthodontic movement in a mouse model carrying a CMD knock-in (KI) mutation (Phe377del) in the Ank gene.
Within this group mutations in the protein O-mannosyltransferase genes (POMT1 and POMT2) are known to cause a spectrum of CMD disorders including the Walker-Warburg Syndrome with severe brain and ocular malformations, and the limb girdle muscular dystrophy with and without mental retardation.
To determine the prevalence of JAK2V617F mutation and its clinical correlation in patients with chronic myeloproliferative disorders (CMD): polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET) and idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF).
The aim of the study was to establish how frequently mutations in POMT1 and POMT2 occur in CMD patients in the Italian population and to evaluate the spectrum of associated phenotypes.
The recently discovered mutations in patients with CMD (V617F and exon 12 of JAK2 gene, MPL gene), and those identified in hereditary erythrocytosis and in hereditary thrombocytosis have improved our ability to discriminate these conditions.
A substantial proportion of patients with splanchnic venous thrombosis and a small, but significant, number of patients with CVT can be recognized as carriers of the JAK2V617F mutation in the absence of overt signs of CMD.
Mutation analysis revealed two distinct mutations: a c.8005delT frameshift deletion in exon 56 of the LAMA2 (laminin-α2) gene (MDC1A) was found in the CMD patient and a new homozygous mutation c.1536+1G>T in the donor splice site of intron 12 of the CAPN3 (calpain3) gene (LGMD2A) was found in the LGMD patients.
Laminin alpha2 deficiency accounted for only 8% of CMD. alpha7-Integrin staining was absent in 12 of 45 patients studied, and ITGA7 gene mutations were excluded in all of these patients.