The frequency of SMN gene variants lacking exon 7 and 8 is highly population dependent
Raymon VijzelaarReinier SnetselaarMartijn J. A. M. ClausenAmanda G. MasonMarrit RinsmaMarinka ZegersNaomi N. MollemanRenske BoschlooRizkat YilmazRomy KuilboerSylvia I. LensSyamiroh SulchanJan Schouten
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Abstract:
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a disorder characterized by the degeneration of motor neurons in the spinal cord, leading to muscular atrophy. In the majority of cases, SMA is caused by the homozygous absence of the SMN1 gene. The disease severity of SMA is strongly influenced by the copy number of the closely related SMN2 gene. In addition, an SMN variant lacking exons 7 and 8 has been reported in 8% and 23% of healthy Swedish and Spanish individuals respectively. We tested 1255 samples from the 1000 Genomes Project using a new version of the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) P021 probemix that covers each SMN exon. The SMN variant lacking exons 7 and 8 was present in up to 20% of individuals in several Caucasian populations, while being almost completely absent in various Asian and African populations. This SMN1/2Δ7–8 variant appears to be derived from an ancient deletion event as the deletion size is identical in 99% of samples tested. The average total copy number of SMN1, SMN2 and the SMN1/2Δ7–8 variant combined was remarkably comparable in all populations tested, ranging from 3.64 in Asian to 3.75 in African samples.Keywords:
SMN1
Spinal muscle atrophy (SMA) is the leading genetic cause of infant mortality. SMA originates from the loss of functional survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. In most SMA cases, the SMN1 gene is deleted. However, in some cases, SMN is mutated, impairing its biological functions. SMN mutants could provide clues about the biological functions of SMN and the specific impact on SMA, potentially leading to the identification of new pathways and thus providing novel treatment alternatives, and even personalized care. Here, we discuss the biochemistry of SMN and the most recent SMA treatment strategies.
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Muscle Atrophy
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Neuromuscular disease
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Multiplex
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Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a leading genetic cause of infant mortality. A neurodegenerative disease, it is caused by loss of SMN1, although low, but essential, levels of SMN protein are produced by the nearly identical gene SMN2. While no effective treatment or therapy currently exists, a new wave of therapeutics has rapidly progressed from cell-based and preclinical animal models to the point where clinical trials have initiated for SMA-specific compounds. There are several reasons why SMA has moved relatively rapidly towards novel therapeutics, including: SMA is monogenic; the molecular understanding of SMN gene regulation has been building for nearly 20 years; and all SMA patients retain one or more copies of SMN2 that produces low levels of full-length, fully functional SMN protein. This review primarily focuses upon the biology behind the disease and examines SMN1- and SMN2-targeted therapeutics.
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Degeneration (medical)
Neuromuscular disease
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Objectives To study the application of multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification(MLPA) in molecular diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy(SMA) as basis for SMA genetic counseling.Methods Peripheral blood samples were collected from three SMA suspected patients and their parents.Genomic DNA was isolated and analyzed by MLPA.Results MLPA analysis showed that all the 3 children had homozygous deletion of the survival of motor neuron l(SMN1) gene and the copy number was 0.Both of the parents had heterozygous deletion of the SMN1 gene and the copy number was 1.Conclusions Application of MLPA in molecular diagnosis of SMA not only makes diagnosis quick and easy,but also identifies and screens the gene heterozygous deletion of carriers.
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Multiplex
Gene dosage
genomic DNA
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Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is one of the leading causes of infant mortality. SMA is mostly caused by low levels of Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) protein due to deletion of or mutation in the SMN1 gene. Its nearly identical copy, SMN2, fails to compensate for the loss of SMN1 due to predominant skipping of exon 7. Correction of SMN2 exon 7 splicing by an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO), nusinersen (Spinraza™), that targets the intronic splicing silencer N1 (ISS-N1) became the first approved therapy for SMA. Restoration of SMN levels using gene therapy was the next. Very recently, an orally deliverable small molecule, risdiplam (Evrysdi™), became the third approved therapy for SMA. Here we discuss how these therapies are positioned to meet the needs of the broad phenotypic spectrum of SMA patients.
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