Mutation analysis in Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy

The purpose of this study was to search for STA gene defects in three famil ies with clinically typical Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, Emery-Dreifu ss is an ii-linked muscular dystrophy with humeroperoneal weakness and life -threatening, but treatable, cardiac abnormalities in male patients and in female, carriers. The defect is in the gene coding for emerin, a 254 amino acid protein of unknown function, Complementary and genomic DNA from T lymp hocytes from the reported patients and their family members were amplified, cloned, and sequenced, A novel mutation, a 26 base-pair deletion in three brothers and a carrier mother, was detected in one family, A splicing mutat ion with one base pair insertion and a five base-pair deletion, which have been described previously, were found in the second and third families, res pectively. The additional novel mutation detected and the findings of three different mutations in these three families support the idea of genetic he terogeneity of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy with different mutations i n different families. (C) 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved .