Our recent work has identified a variable degree of behavioral benefit when treating 2 NM mouse models due to mutations in Acta1 with myostatin inhibition.
Here we report that mutations in the human skeletal muscle alpha-actin gene (ACTA1) are associated with two different muscle diseases, 'congenital myopathy with excess of thin myofilaments' (actin myopathy) and nemaline myopathy.
Mutations in the skeletal muscle alpha-actin gene (ACTA1) associated with congenital myopathy with excess of thin myofilaments, nemaline myopathy and intranuclear rod myopathy were first described in 1999.
Three genes are known to cause nemaline myopathy: the genes for nebulin (NEB) on chromosome 2q22, slow alpha-tropomyosin (TPM3) on chromosome 1q21 and skeletal muscle alpha-actin (ACTA1) on chromosome 1q42.
Results of muscle biopsies at 7 weeks of age and at 15 months of age from a child with nemaline myopathy due to a novel mutation in the ACTA1 gene are presented.
Mutations in three different genes have been identified as the cause of nemaline myopathy: the gene for slow alpha-tropomyosin 3 (TPM3) at 1q22-23, the nebulin gene (NEB) at 2q21.1-q22, and the actin gene (ACTA1) at 1q42.
Multimodal MRI and (31)P-MRS investigations of the ACTA1(Asp286Gly) mouse model of nemaline myopathy provide evidence of impaired in vivo muscle function, altered muscle structure and disturbed energy metabolism.
In vitro studies suggest that abnormal folding, altered polymerization and aggregation of mutant actin isoforms are common properties of NMACTA1 mutants.
Nemaline Myopathy with Intranuclear Rods is a rare variant of nemaline myopathy, due in almost all instances to mutation of ACTA1, the gene encoding skeletal muscle alpha-actin.
A highly conserved protein, ACTA1 is implicated in multiple muscle diseases, including nemaline myopathy, actin aggregate myopathy, fiber-type disproportion, and rod-core myopathy.
Mutations in several NM causal genes have been attributed to the majority of NM cases, particularly mutations in nebulin and skeletal muscle α‑actin 1 (ACTA1), which are responsible for ~70% of cases; therefore, a genetic diagnostic strategy using targeted gene sequencing may potentially improve the diagnosis of suspected NM.
Mutations in the skeletal muscle actin gene, ACTA1 are responsible for up to 20% of congenital myopathies with a variety of pathologies that includes nemaline myopathy, intranuclear rod myopathy, actin myopathy and congenital fibre type disproportion.In their review of 2003, Sparrow et al. considered how these actin mutations might affect muscle function at the molecular level and thus cause the disease.
The type 1 fiber atrophy and clusters of rods in normal size muscle fibers supported the diagnosis of congenital NM and prompted genetic molecular testing, which led to discovery of the novel ACTA1 variant causative of the myopathy.
Here we report for the first time three patients with severe nemaline myopathy and mutations of the ACTA1 stop codon: TAG>TAT (tyrosine), TAG>CAG (glutamine) and TAG>TGG (tryptophan).