| 1. |
- Bellenguez, Celine, et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide association study identifies a variant in HDAC9 associated with large vessel ischemic stroke
- 2012
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Ingår i: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-1718 .- 1061-4036. ; 44:3, s. 141-328
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic factors have been implicated in stroke risk, but few replicated associations have been reported. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for ischemic stroke and its subtypes in 3,548 affected individuals and 5,972 controls, all of European ancestry. Replication of potential signals was performed in 5,859 affected individuals and 6,281 controls. We replicated previous associations for cardioembolic stroke near PITX2 and ZFHX3 and for large vessel stroke at a 9p21 locus. We identified a new association for large vessel stroke within HDAC9 (encoding histone deacetylase 9) on chromosome 7p21.1 (including further replication in an additional 735 affected individuals and 28,583 controls) (rs11984041; combined P = 1.87 x 10(-11); odds ratio (OR) = 1.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.28-1.57). All four loci exhibited evidence for heterogeneity of effect across the stroke subtypes, with some and possibly all affecting risk for only one subtype. This suggests distinct genetic architectures for different stroke subtypes.
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| 2. |
- Bogaert, Elke, et al.
(författare)
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Polymorphisms in the GluR2 gene are not associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- 2012
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Aging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0197-4580 .- 1558-1497. ; 33:2, s. 418-420
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Excitotoxicity is thought to play a pathogenic role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Excitotoxic motor neuron death is mediated through the Ca(2+)-permeable alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA)-type of glutamate receptors and Ca(2+) permeability is determined by the GluR2 subunit. We investigated whether polymorphisms or mutations in the GluR2 gene (GRIA2) predispose patients to ALS. Upon sequencing 24 patients and 24 controls no nonsynonymous coding variants were observed but 24 polymorphisms were identified, 9 of which were novel. In a screening set of 310 Belgian ALS cases and 794 healthy controls and a replication set of 3157 cases and 5397 controls from 6 additional populations no association with susceptibility, age at onset, or disease duration was observed. We conclude that polymorphisms in the GluR2 gene (GRIA2) are not a major contributory factor in the pathogenesis of ALS.
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| 3. |
- Van Hoecke, Annelies, et al.
(författare)
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EPHA4 is a disease modifier of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in animal models and in humans
- 2012
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Ingår i: Nature Medicine. - New York : Nature Publishing Group. - 1078-8956 .- 1546-170X. ; 18:9, s. 1418-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting motor neurons. Disease onset and progression are variable, with survival ranging from months to decades. Factors underlying this variability may represent targets for therapeutic intervention. Here, we have screened a zebrafish model of ALS and identified Epha4, a receptor in the ephrin axonal repellent system, as a modifier of the disease phenotype in fish, rodents and humans. Genetic as well as pharmacological inhibition of Epha4 signaling rescues the mutant SOD1 phenotype in zebrafish and increases survival in mouse and rat models of ALS. Motor neurons that are most vulnerable to degeneration in ALS express higher levels of Epha4, and neuromuscular re-innervation by axotomized motor neurons is inhibited by the presence of Epha4. In humans with ALS, EPHA4 expression inversely correlates with disease onset and survival, and loss-of-function mutations in EPHA4 are associated with long survival. Furthermore, we found that knockdown of Epha4 also rescues the axonopathy induced by expression of mutant TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), another protein causing familial ALS, and the axonopathy induced by knockdown of survival of motor neuron 1, a model for spinomuscular atrophy. This suggests that Epha4 generically modulates the vulnerability of (motor) neurons to axonal degeneration and may represent a new target for therapeutic intervention.
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