emerin and Chromosome-Inversion

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EMD) is an X-linked disorder characterized by contractures, progressive weakness and cardiomyopathy. EMD is caused by mutations in the 2 kb emerin gene that is located within human Xq28. Emerin is immediately distal to the 26 kb filamin gene, and flanking the filamin-emerin region are two large inverted repeats. This entire region previously has been found to be inverted in approximately 20% of X chromosomes, presumably mediated by the inverted repeats. Only one complete emerin deletion has been reported previously. It was found to be due to a complex rearrangement involving the inverted repeats which partially duplicated filamin. We report here two additional EMD patients who have large deletions of 20 and 34 kb, respectively. Unlike the previously reported deletion, these deletions appear to be simple deletions, with each breakpoint junction showing only 2 bp of overlap, suggesting an end-joining mechanism. However, the two deletions were found on each of the two inverted backgrounds. The 20 kb deletion includes the entire emerin gene and extends well into most of the distal inverted repeat. In contrast, the 34 kb deletion occurs on the inverted X chromosome and extends centromeric, well beyond the proximal inverted repeat. In addition, at least three nearby putative genes detected by previous sequence analysis are deleted among these patients but without obvious deviation from a typical EMD phenotype. Similarly to the previously reported deletion, filamin remains intact in these two deletions. All three deletions involve distinct breakpoints within the 4.7 kb filamin-emerin intergenic region, suggesting that loss of filamin is a lethal event. Thus, the close proximity of filamin to emerin may place constraints upon potential emerin deletions and probably accounts for the rarity of complete emerin deletions in EMD patients.

Topics: Chromosome Inversion; Gene Deletion; Humans; Membrane Proteins; Muscular Dystrophies; Nuclear Proteins; Thymopoietins; X Chromosome

Topics: Chromosome Inversion; Female; Gene Deletion; Gene Rearrangement; Humans; Membrane Proteins; Muscular Dystrophies; Nuclear Proteins; Thymopoietins; X Chromosome

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EMD) is an X-linked disorder characterized by contractures, progressive muscle weakness and cardiomyopathy. The emerin gene, located in human Xq28, is approximately 2 kb in length, is composed of 6 exons and falls within a 219-kb region that has been completely sequenced. Immediately centromeric to emerin is the 26-kb filamin gene (FLN1), composed of 48 exons and encoding the actin-binding protein 280 (refs 7,8). Flanking this 48-kb FLN1/emerin region are two large inverted repeats, each 11.3 kb, that exhibit > 99% sequence identity. The high level of genomic detail in this region allowed us to characterize the first complete emerin gene deletion mutation that also involved a partial duplication of the nearby FLN1 gene. This rearrangement could be explained by mispairing of the large inverted repeats, followed by double recombination among one set of mispaired repeats and internal sequences. Furthermore, our characterization of this rare DNA rearrangement revealed a more common result of the mispairing of these large inverted repeats--recombination contained within the inverted repeats leading to the maintenance of repeat sequence homogeneity and inversion of the 48-kb FLN1/emerin region. The presence of this frequent inversion, found in the heterozygous state in 33% of females, helps to explain the discrepancies observed between the genetic and physical map distances in this region of the X chromosome. It also illustrates the biological insights which can be gleaned by sequencing the human genome.

Topics: Adult; Blotting, Southern; Chromosome Inversion; Contractile Proteins; Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; Female; Filamins; Gene Deletion; Gene Frequency; Gene Rearrangement; Heterozygote; Humans; Male; Membrane Proteins; Microfilament Proteins; Middle Aged; Models, Genetic; Molecular Sequence Data; Muscular Dystrophies; Nuclear Proteins; Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Thymopoietins; X Chromosome