| 1. |
- Wallenius, Joel, et al.
(författare)
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Exonic trinucleotide repeat expansions in ZFHX3 cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 4 : A poly-glycine disease.
- 2024
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Ingår i: American Journal of Human Genetics. - 0002-9297 .- 1537-6605. ; 111:1, s. 82-95
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Autosomal-dominant ataxia with sensory and autonomic neuropathy is a highly specific combined phenotype that we described in two Swedish kindreds in 2014; its genetic cause had remained unknown. Here, we report the discovery of exonic GGC trinucleotide repeat expansions, encoding poly-glycine, in zinc finger homeobox 3 (ZFHX3) in these families. The expansions were identified in whole-genome datasets within genomic segments that all affected family members shared. Non-expanded alleles carried one or more interruptions within the repeat. We also found ZFHX3 repeat expansions in three additional families, all from the region of Skåne in southern Sweden. Individuals with expanded repeats developed balance and gait disturbances at 15 to 60 years of age and had sensory neuropathy and slow saccades. Anticipation was observed in all families and correlated with different repeat lengths determined through long-read sequencing in two family members. The most severely affected individuals had marked autonomic dysfunction, with severe orthostatism as the most disabling clinical feature. Neuropathology revealed p62-positive intracytoplasmic and intranuclear inclusions in neurons of the central and enteric nervous system, as well as alpha-synuclein positivity. ZFHX3 is located within the 16q22 locus, to which spinocerebellar ataxia type 4 (SCA4) repeatedly had been mapped; the clinical phenotype in our families corresponded well with the unique phenotype described in SCA4, and the original SCA4 kindred originated from Sweden. ZFHX3 has known functions in neuronal development and differentiation n both the central and peripheral nervous system. Our findings demonstrate that SCA4 is caused by repeat expansions in ZFHX3.
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| 2. |
- Gorcenco, Sorina, et al.
(författare)
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Clinical and genetic analyses of a Swedish patient series diagnosed with ataxia
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Neurology. - 0340-5354. ; 271:1, s. 526-542
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hereditary ataxia is a heterogeneous group of complex neurological disorders. Next-generation sequencing methods have become a great help in clinical diagnostics, but it may remain challenging to determine if a genetic variant is the cause of the patient’s disease. We compiled a consecutive single-center series of 87 patients from 76 families with progressive ataxia of known or unknown etiology. We investigated them clinically and genetically using whole exome or whole genome sequencing. Test methods were selected depending on family history, clinical phenotype, and availability. Genetic results were interpreted based on the American College of Medical Genetics criteria. For high-suspicion variants of uncertain significance, renewed bioinformatical and clinical evaluation was performed to assess the level of pathogenicity. Thirty (39.5%) of the 76 families had received a genetic diagnosis at the end of our study. We present the predominant etiologies of hereditary ataxia in a Swedish patient series. In two families, we established a clinical diagnosis, although the genetic variant was classified as “of uncertain significance” only, and in an additional three families, results are pending. We found a pathogenic variant in one family, but we suspect that it does not explain the complete clinical picture. We conclude that correctly interpreting genetic variants in complex neurogenetic diseases requires genetics and clinical expertise. The neurologist’s careful phenotyping remains essential to confirm or reject a diagnosis, also by reassessing clinical findings after a candidate genetic variant is suggested. Collaboration between neurology and clinical genetics and combining clinical and research approaches optimizes diagnostic yield.
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| 3. |
- Ilinca, Andreea, et al.
(författare)
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MAP3K6 Mutations in a Neurovascular Disease Causing Stroke, Cognitive Impairment, and Tremor
- 2021
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Ingår i: Neurology: Genetics. - 2376-7839. ; 7:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To describe a possible novel genetic mechanism for cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) and stroke.Methods: We studied a Swedish kindred with ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage, tremor, dysautonomia, and mild cognitive decline. Members were examined clinically, radiologically, and by histopathology. Genetic workup included whole-exome sequencing (WES) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and intrafamilial cosegregation analyses.Results: Fifteen family members were examined clinically. Twelve affected individuals had white matter hyperintensities and 1 or more of (1) stroke episodes, (2) clinically silent lacunar ischemic lesions, and (3) cognitive dysfunction. All affected individuals had tremor and/or atactic gait disturbance. Mild symmetric basal ganglia calcifications were seen in 3 affected members. Postmortem examination of 1 affected member showed pathologic alterations in both small and large arteries the brain. Skin biopsies of 3 affected members showed extracellular amorphous deposits within the subepidermal zone, which may represent degenerated arterioles. WES or WGS did not reveal any potentially disease-causing variants in known genes for cSVDs or idiopathic basal ganglia calcification, but identified 1 heterozygous variant, NM_004672.4 MAP3K6 c.322G>A p.(Asp108Asn), that cosegregated with the disease in this large family. MAP3K6 has known functions in angiogenesis and affects vascular endothelial growth factor expression, which may be implicated in cerebrovascular disease.Conclusions: Our data strongly suggest the MAP3K6 variant to be causative for this novel disease phenotype, but the absence of functional data and the present lack of additional families with this disease and MAP3K6 mutations still limit the formal evidence for the variant's pathogenicity.
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| 4. |
- Puschmann, Andreas, et al.
(författare)
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CHCHD2 and Parkinson's disease
- 2015
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Ingår i: Lancet Neurology. - 1474-4465. ; 14:7, s. 679-679
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 5. |
- Puschmann, Andreas, et al.
(författare)
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First neuropathological description of a patient with Parkinson's disease and LRRK2 p.N1437H mutation.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-5126 .- 1353-8020. ; 18:4, s. 332-338
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The c.4309A>C mutation in the LRRK2 gene (LRRK2 p.N1437H) has recently been reported as the seventh pathogenic LRRK2 mutation causing monogenic Parkinson's disease (PD). So far, only two families worldwide have been identified with this mutation. By screening DNA from seven brains of PD patients, we found one individual with seemingly sporadic PD and LRRK2 p.N1437H mutation. Clinically, the patient had levodopa-responsive PD with tremor, and developed severe motor fluctuations during a disease duration of 19 years. There was severe and painful ON-dystonia, and severe depression with suicidal thoughts during OFF. In the advanced stage, cognition was slow during motor OFF, but there was no noticeable cognitive decline. There were no signs of autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Bilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus had unsatisfactory results on motor symptoms. The patient committed suicide. Neuropathological examination revealed marked cell loss and moderate alpha-synuclein positive Lewy body pathology in the brainstem. There was sparse Lewy pathology in the cortex. A striking finding was very pronounced ubiquitin-positive pathology in the brainstem, temporolimbic regions and neocortex. Ubiquitin positivity was most pronounced in the white matter, and was out of proportion to the comparatively weaker alpha-synuclein immunoreactivity. Immunostaining for tau was mildly positive, revealing non-specific changes, but staining for TDP-43 and FUS was entirely negative. The distribution and shape of ubiquitin-positive lesions in this patient differed from the few previously described patients with LRRK2 mutations and ubiquitin pathology, and the ubiquitinated protein substrate remains undefined.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Smith, Ruben, et al.
(författare)
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18F-AV-1451 tau PET imaging correlates strongly with tau neuropathology in MAPT mutation carriers
- 2016
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Ingår i: Brain. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0006-8950 .- 1460-2156. ; 139:9, s. 2372-2379
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tau positron emission tomography ligands provide the novel possibility to image tau pathologyin vivo. However, little is known about howin vivo brain uptake of tau positron emission tomography ligands relates to tau aggregates observed post-mortem. We performed tau positron emission tomography imaging with F-18-AV-1451 in three patients harbouring a p.R406W mutation in theMAPT gene, encoding tau. This mutation results in 3- and 4-repeat tau aggregates similar to those in Alzheimer's disease, and many of the mutation carriers initially suffer from memory impairment and temporal lobe atrophy. Two patients with short disease duration and isolated memory impairment exhibited F-18-AV-1451 uptake mainly in the hippocampus and adjacent temporal lobe regions, correlating with glucose hypometabolism in corresponding regions. One patient died after 26 years of disease duration with dementia and behavioural deficits. Pre-mortem, there was F-18-AV-1451 uptake in the temporal and frontal lobes, as well as in the basal ganglia, which strongly correlated with the regional extent and amount of tau pathology in post-mortem brain sections. Amyloid-beta (F-18-flutemetamol) positron emission tomography scans were negative in all cases, as were stainings of brain sections for amyloid. This provides strong evidence that F-18-AV-1451 positron emission tomography can be used to accurately quantifyin vivo the regional distribution of hyperphosphorylated tau protein.
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| 8. |
- Smith, Ruben, et al.
(författare)
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18F-AV1451 pet detects tau pathology in mapt mutation carriers and correlates strongly with immunohistochemistry of tau aggregates
- 2016
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Ingår i: Alzheimer's and Dementia. - : Wiley. - 1552-5279 .- 1552-5260. ; 12:7 Suppl, s. 723-724
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The Tau PET ligand 18F-AV1451 has been shown to reliably detect paired helical filaments of tau in Alzheimer's disease, but it is not yet known whether it binds to the tau aggregates present in patients with mutations in the gene (MAPT) coding for the tau protein. Further, no study has yet compared the cerebral retention of 18F -AV1451 with the tau aggregates revealed using neuropathology. Methods: Three patients from a Swedish family carrying the R406W mutation of MAPT were assessed with cognitive tests and subjects underwent 18F-AV1451 and 18F-Flutemetamol PET scans. Further one of younger subjects also underwent an 18F-FDG PET scan. The oldest subject died two weeks after the scan and the brain was processed for neuropathology. Tau immunohistochemistry was performed on brain sections from affected and unaffected brain regions. Results: Two mutation carriers, aged 56 and 60 years, had disease durations of 5-10 years and still only exhibited mild-moderate episodic memory impairment and no clear behavioural deficits. The MRI revealed only slight cortical atrophy and 18F-AV1451 PET imaging showed uptake in the hippocampus and the temporal lobes, especially in the inferior and anterior parts (Fig 1A, B). The uptake of 18F - AV1451 correlated well with hypometabolism revealed with FGD PET in one of the subjects. The third case, 76 years, had a disease duration of ≥20 years and exhibited clear cognitive impairment, behavioural disturbances, mutism and dysphagia. The CT scan showed generalised cortical atrophy with a pronounced temporal lobe atrophy and 18F -AV1451 PET imaging revealed uptake in the temporal and frontal lobes, as well as in the basal ganglia (Fig 1 C). The regional uptake of 18F -AV1451 correlated strongly with the tau aggregates revealed using immunohistochemistry (R2 = 0.80, P <0.01; Fig 2). All cases exhibited negative amyloid (18F -flutemetamol) PET scans. Conclusions: The in vivo uptake of 18F-AV1451 reflects the regional amount of tau aggregates revealed by neuropathological examination. Further, tau pathology in MAPT mutation carriers is accurately detected with 18F -AV1451 PET, which consequently can be used to track the effects of anti-tau therapies in this patient group. (Figure Presented) .
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| 9. |
- Yektay Farahmand, Maha, et al.
(författare)
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Small vessel disease in primary familial brain calcification with novel truncating PDGFB variants
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Ingår i: Neurologia i neurochirurgia polska. - 0028-3843. ; , s. 94-105
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by bilateral calcification in the brain, especially in the basal ganglia, leading to neurological and neuropsychiatric manifestations. White matter hyperintensities (WMH) have been described in patients with PFBC and pathogenic variants in the gene for platelet-derived growth factor beta polypeptide (PDGFB), suggesting a manifest cerebrovascular process. We present below the cases of two PFBC families with PDGFB variants and stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) episodes. We examine the possible correlation between PFBC and vascular events as stroke/TIA, and evaluate whether signs for vascular disease in this condition are systemic or limited to the cerebral vessels.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two Swedish families with novel truncating PDGFB variants, p.Gln140* and p.Arg191*, are described clinically and radiologically. Subcutaneous capillary vessels in affected and unaffected family members were examined by light and electron microscopy.RESULTS: All mutation carriers showed WMH and bilateral brain calcifications. The clinical presentations differed, with movement disorder symptoms dominating in family A, and psychiatric symptoms in family B. However, affected members of both families had stroke, TIA, and/or asymptomatic intracerebral ischaemic lesions. Only one of the patients had classical vascular risk factors. Skin microvasculature was normal.CONCLUSIONS: Patients with these PDGFB variants develop microvascular changes in the brain, but not the skin. PDGFB-related small vessel disease can manifest radiologically as cerebral haemorrhage or ischaemia, and may explain TIA or stroke in patients without other vascular risk factors.
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| 10. |
- Ygland, Emil, et al.
(författare)
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Slowly progressive dementia caused by MAPT R406W mutations : longitudinal report on a new kindred and systematic review
- 2018
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Ingår i: Alzheimer's Research & Therapy. - : BioMed Central. - 1758-9193. ; 10
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The MAPT c.1216C > T (p.Arg406Trp; R406W) mutation is a known cause of frontotemporal dementia with Parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 tau with Alzheimer's disease-like clinical features. Methods: We compiled clinical data from a new Swedish kindred with R406W mutation. Seven family members were followed longitudinally for up to 22 years. Radiological examinations were performed in six family members and neuropathological examinations in three. We systematically reviewed the literature and compiled clinical, radiological, and neuropathological data on 63 previously described R406W heterozygotes and 3 homozygotes. Results: For all cases combined, the median age of onset was 56 years and the median disease duration was 13 years. Memory impairment was the most frequent symptom, behavioral disturbance and language impairment were less common, and Parkinsonism was rare. Disease progression was most often slow. The most frequent clinical diagnosis was Alzheimer's disease. R406W homozygotes had an earlier age at onset and a higher frequency of behavioral symptoms and Parkinsonism than heterozygotes. In the new Swedish kindred, a consistent imaging finding was ventromedial temporal lobe atrophy, which was evident also in early disease stages as a widening of the collateral sulcus with ensuing atrophy of the parahippocampal gyrus. Unlike previously published R406W carriers, all three autopsied patients from the novel family showed neuropathological similarities with progressive supranuclear palsy, with predominant four-repeat (exon 10+) tau isoform (4R) tauopathy and neurofibrillary tangles accentuated in the basal-medial temporal lobe. Amyloid-beta pathology was absent. Conclusions: Dominance of 4R over three-repeat (exon 10-) tau isoforms contrasts with earlier reports of R406W patients and was not sufficiently explained by the presence of H1/H2 haplotypes in two of the autopsied patients. R406W patients often show a long course of disease with marked memory deficits. Both our neuropathological results and our imaging findings revealed that the ventromedial temporal lobes were extensively affected in the disease. We suggest that this area may represent the point of origin of tau deposition in this disease with relatively isolated tauopathy.
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