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09-08-2016, 05:52 AM
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Gene mutation behind rare, new brain disorder identified
Afflicts siblings in two families from Pakistan, Oman
LAHORE: Scientists have identified the genetic mutations behind a rare, unnamed neurological disorder that was identified among siblings in two families from Pakistan and Oman, reports Indian Express. The researchers also replicated the mutation identified in the Gene GPT2 in lab cultures and mouse models to understand how the altered DNA cause the disease. “This is a clear, new neurogenetic disorder due to mutations in GPT2,” said Eric Morrow, associate professor at the Brown University in the US. “In addition to the relevance this has to the diag**sis of developmental disorders, and potential therapeutics, it is also a window into how the brain develops and how the brain functions,” Morrow said. The Gene GPT2 is expressed in the nucleus of cells, but the enzyme it generates appears vital to metabolic pathways in the mitochondria, organelles which provide energy and biosynthetic building blocks to cells, researchers said. The consequences of the mutations appear to be in leaving developing brains without biosynthetic abilities to grow properly, and to deficits in metabolites that could help prevent degeneration. Moreover, the G in the Gene name stands for glutamate, an important neurotransmitter that governs how brain cells, or neurons, connect and interact. “To find a glutamate metabolising enzyme that is associated with a brain disease is an opportunity to understand how that neurotransmitter might work or be modulated,” Morrow said. The team began the investigation more than five years ago when they were studying two families in Pakistan and Oman with children whose symptoms included below-**rmal postnatal brain growth, intellectual disability and progressively worsening motor problems. The children, 14 in all across the two large families, typically were able to walk by age three, yet a majority lost that ability later as motor control diminished in their legs, as a condition called spastic paraplegia emerged. Spastic paraplegia is generally considered to involve a neurodegenerative cause, Morrow said. The team traced a genetic mutation to chromosome 16, and they were able to find two specific mutations in GPT2. They created models in which the mutations were induced in human cells and also in mice. أكثر... ??????? ??????: Gene mutation behind rare, new brain disorder identified || ??????: ahlam1399 || ??????: اسم منتداك
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