Huntington's disease(HD) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded tri-nucleotide CAG sequence in huntingtin gene(HTT) on chromosome 4. HD manifests with chorea, cognitive and psy...Huntington's disease(HD) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded tri-nucleotide CAG sequence in huntingtin gene(HTT) on chromosome 4. HD manifests with chorea, cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. Although advances in genetics allow identification of individuals carrying the HD gene, much is still unknown about the mechanisms underly-ing the development of overt clinical symptoms and the transitional period between premanifestation and mani-festation of the disease. HD has no cure and patients rely only in symptomatic treatment. There is an urgent need to identify biomarkers that are able to monitor disease progression and assess the development and efficacy of novel disease modifying drugs. Over the past years, neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and positron emission tomog-raphy(PET) have provided important advances in our understanding of HD. MRI provides information about structural and functional organization of the brain, while PET can detect molecular changes in the brain. MRI and PET are able to detect changes in the brains of HD gene carriers years ahead of the manifestation of the dis-ease and have also proved to be powerful in assessingdisease progression. However, no single technique hasbeen validated as an optimal biomarker. An integrativemultimodal imaging approach, which combines differ-ent MRI and PET techniques, could be recommendedfor monitoring potential neuroprotective and preventivetherapies in HD. In this article we review the currentneuroimaging literature in HD.展开更多
The polymorphic CAG repeats in the IT15 gene in Chinese normal and Huntington’s dis-ease(HD)chromosomes were determined by using nested PCR and denaturing polyacry-lamide gel electrophoretic autoradiography as well a...The polymorphic CAG repeats in the IT15 gene in Chinese normal and Huntington’s dis-ease(HD)chromosomes were determined by using nested PCR and denaturing polyacry-lamide gel electrophoretic autoradiography as well as direct sequencing analysis.A total of40 normal individuals and 122 members of 13 unrelated HD families originating from Shang-hai,Jiangsu,Zhejiang,Anhui,Shandong,Guangdong and Henan,respectively,were in-volved in this study.The results showed that the(CAG)n repeat numbers in 270 normal al-leles ranged from 13 to 26 but most in 16;while in 54 HD alleles,the CAG repeats from 40to 94,with an unstable inheritance of expanded repeats in some families.There was no over-lap between the normal and affected alleles.Additionally,the presymptomatic diagnosis in103 family members at risk for HD disclosed that 35 individuals had HD alleles,which were-in accordance with the pedigree analysis and clinical investigation.All these results indicatedthat the dynamic mutation in IT15 gene was responsible for the genetic defect in the ChineseHD patients and that a correlation existed between the numbers of(CAG)n repeat and theonset age of the disease.All-of these provide valuable data for HD molecular diagnosis,ge-netic counselling and genetic health.展开更多
We report brain imaging and genetic diagnosis in a family from Wuhan, China, with a history of Huntington＇s disease. Among 17 family members across three generations, four patients （Ⅱ2, Ⅱ6, Ⅲ5, and Ⅲ9） show typ...We report brain imaging and genetic diagnosis in a family from Wuhan, China, with a history of Huntington＇s disease. Among 17 family members across three generations, four patients （Ⅱ2, Ⅱ6, Ⅲ5, and Ⅲ9） show typical Huntington＇s disease, involuntary dance-like movements. Magnetic resonance imaging found lateral ventricular atrophy in three members （Ⅱ2, Ⅱ6, and Ⅲ5）. Moreover, genetic analysis identified abnormally amplified CAG sequence repeats （〉 40） in two members （Ⅲ5 and Ⅲ9）. Among borderline cases, with clinical symptoms and brain imaging features of Huntington＇s disease, two cases were identified （Ⅱ2 and Ⅱ6）, but shown by mutation analysis for CAG expansions in the important transcript 15 gene, to be non-Huntington＇s disease. Our findings suggest that clinical diagnosis of Huntington＇s disease requires a combination of clinical symptoms, radiological changes, and genetic diagnosis.展开更多
文摘Huntington's disease(HD) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded tri-nucleotide CAG sequence in huntingtin gene(HTT) on chromosome 4. HD manifests with chorea, cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. Although advances in genetics allow identification of individuals carrying the HD gene, much is still unknown about the mechanisms underly-ing the development of overt clinical symptoms and the transitional period between premanifestation and mani-festation of the disease. HD has no cure and patients rely only in symptomatic treatment. There is an urgent need to identify biomarkers that are able to monitor disease progression and assess the development and efficacy of novel disease modifying drugs. Over the past years, neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and positron emission tomog-raphy(PET) have provided important advances in our understanding of HD. MRI provides information about structural and functional organization of the brain, while PET can detect molecular changes in the brain. MRI and PET are able to detect changes in the brains of HD gene carriers years ahead of the manifestation of the dis-ease and have also proved to be powerful in assessingdisease progression. However, no single technique hasbeen validated as an optimal biomarker. An integrativemultimodal imaging approach, which combines differ-ent MRI and PET techniques, could be recommendedfor monitoring potential neuroprotective and preventivetherapies in HD. In this article we review the currentneuroimaging literature in HD.
基金the High Technology Research Development Programme of China
文摘The polymorphic CAG repeats in the IT15 gene in Chinese normal and Huntington’s dis-ease(HD)chromosomes were determined by using nested PCR and denaturing polyacry-lamide gel electrophoretic autoradiography as well as direct sequencing analysis.A total of40 normal individuals and 122 members of 13 unrelated HD families originating from Shang-hai,Jiangsu,Zhejiang,Anhui,Shandong,Guangdong and Henan,respectively,were in-volved in this study.The results showed that the(CAG)n repeat numbers in 270 normal al-leles ranged from 13 to 26 but most in 16;while in 54 HD alleles,the CAG repeats from 40to 94,with an unstable inheritance of expanded repeats in some families.There was no over-lap between the normal and affected alleles.Additionally,the presymptomatic diagnosis in103 family members at risk for HD disclosed that 35 individuals had HD alleles,which were-in accordance with the pedigree analysis and clinical investigation.All these results indicatedthat the dynamic mutation in IT15 gene was responsible for the genetic defect in the ChineseHD patients and that a correlation existed between the numbers of(CAG)n repeat and theonset age of the disease.All-of these provide valuable data for HD molecular diagnosis,ge-netic counselling and genetic health.
基金supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,No.20100141110017,20103030201000217 and 201130302020008
文摘We report brain imaging and genetic diagnosis in a family from Wuhan, China, with a history of Huntington＇s disease. Among 17 family members across three generations, four patients （Ⅱ2, Ⅱ6, Ⅲ5, and Ⅲ9） show typical Huntington＇s disease, involuntary dance-like movements. Magnetic resonance imaging found lateral ventricular atrophy in three members （Ⅱ2, Ⅱ6, and Ⅲ5）. Moreover, genetic analysis identified abnormally amplified CAG sequence repeats （〉 40） in two members （Ⅲ5 and Ⅲ9）. Among borderline cases, with clinical symptoms and brain imaging features of Huntington＇s disease, two cases were identified （Ⅱ2 and Ⅱ6）, but shown by mutation analysis for CAG expansions in the important transcript 15 gene, to be non-Huntington＇s disease. Our findings suggest that clinical diagnosis of Huntington＇s disease requires a combination of clinical symptoms, radiological changes, and genetic diagnosis.
