Toda Tatsushi
Division of Clinical Genetics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine.
Rinsho Shinkeigaku. 2005 Nov;45(11):932-4.
Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD), Walker-Warburg syndrome (WWS), and muscle-eye-brain (MEB) disease are similar disorders characterized by congenital muscular dystrophy, brain and eye anomalies. We previously identified the genes for FCMD and MEB, which encode fukutin and POMGnT1. Recent studies have revealed that posttranslational modification of alpha-dystroglycan is associated with congenital muscular dystrophy with brain malformations. Since hypoglycosylation of alpha-dystroglycan is common amongst several other disorders, a new clinical entity called alpha-dystroglycanopathy is proposed. However, only POMGnT1 (MEB) and POMT1 (WWS) are shown to have a definite enzymatic activity, and no enzymatic activity has been detected in fukutin. We show positive interactions between fukutin and POMGnT1. Fukutin may form a protein complex with POMGnT1 and modulate POMGnT1's enzymatic activity. Through cDNA microarray, we also show aberrant neuromuscular junction formation and delayed muscle fiber maturation in alpha-dystroglycanopathies, suggesting a new pathomechanism.
福山型先天性肌营养不良(FCMD)、沃克 - 沃尔堡综合征(WWS)和肌肉 - 眼 - 脑(MEB)疾病是相似的病症,其特征为先天性肌营养不良、脑和眼异常。我们之前鉴定出了FCMD和MEB的基因,它们分别编码福库亭(fukutin)和POMGnT1。最近的研究表明,α - 肌营养不良蛋白聚糖的翻译后修饰与伴有脑畸形的先天性肌营养不良有关。由于α - 肌营养不良蛋白聚糖的低糖基化在其他几种病症中很常见,因此提出了一种名为α - 肌营养不良蛋白聚糖病的新临床实体。然而,仅显示POMGnT1(MEB)和POMT1(WWS)具有明确的酶活性,而在福库亭中未检测到酶活性。我们展示了福库亭与POMGnT1之间的正向相互作用。福库亭可能与POMGnT1形成蛋白质复合物并调节POMGnT1的酶活性。通过cDNA微阵列,我们还展示了α - 肌营养不良蛋白聚糖病中神经肌肉接头形成异常和肌纤维成熟延迟,提示了一种新的发病机制。