THE MOLECULAR-BASIS OF MARFAN-SYNDROME

The Marfan syndrome is an inherited, autosomal dominant disorder that affects the skeletal, ocular, and cardiovascular systems. Recent bioch emical and genetic studies have demonstrated that this deadly genetic disorder arises from defects in the connective tissue protein fibrilli n. Fibrillin is a component of microfibrils, structures found in the e xtracellular matrices of most tissues, including those affected in Mar fan patients. The appearance of microfibrils in the matrix produced by Marfan patient fibroblasts is different from that of normal cells. Ge netic linkage between the fibrillin gene and the Marfan phenotype has been established and the gene mapped to the same chromosomal position as the disease locus. In several instances, the disease has been assoc iated with mutations in the fibrillin gene, confirming that defects in fibrillin cause the Marfan syndrome.