Distinct regions specify the nuclear membrane targeting of emerin, the responsible protein for Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy.
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Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is a neuromuscular disorder that has three characteristics: (a) early contracture of the elbows, Achilles tendons and postcervical muscles; (b) slowly progressive wasting and weakness of skeletal muscle; and (c) cardiomyopathy with severe conduction block. The responsible gene for the X-linked recessive form of this disease encodes an inner nuclear membrane protein named emerin. Although emerin is absent in tissues from patients with this disorder, it remains obscure why the loss of this widely expressed protein affects selectively skeletal muscle, heart and joints. As the first step to address this question, we examined the molecular regions of emerin that are essential for nuclear membrane targeting and stability of the protein. We found that the C-terminal hydrophobic region was necessary, but not sufficient, for nuclear membrane anchoring and stability of the protein. In the absence of this transmembrane domain, the upstream nucleoplasmic domain showed no firm association with the nuclear rim, but showed the tendency to accumulate at the nucleolus-like structures. Furthermore, proper targeting of emerin to the nuclear membrane required the latter half of the nucleoplasmic domain. These characteristics are distinct from those of lamina-associated polypeptide 2. Our findings indicate that emerin has distinct interactions with the inner nuclear membrane components that may be required for the stability and function of rigorously moving nuclei in tissues such as skeletal muscle, heart and joints. (+info)
Cardiac involvement in Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy: a case series.
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Three patients with Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy are reported. Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is an X linked muscular dystrophy, in which locomotor involvement is characteristically mild and slowly progressive. The effect on the heart becomes apparent in the teenage years and is characterised by cardiac conduction defects and infiltration of the myocardium by fibrous and adipose tissue. It first affects the atria, which results in atrial paralysis; treatment with ventricular pacing is usually needed. Female carriers can develop heart problems and are at risk of sudden death. Relatives of affected patients should be offered screening with electrocardiography and echocardiography. (+info)
The Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy phenotype arises from aberrant targeting and binding of emerin at the inner nuclear membrane.
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The product of the X-linked Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy gene is a single-membrane-spanning protein called emerin, which is localized to the inner nuclear membrane of all tissues studied. To examine whether a number of the mutant forms of emerin expressed in patients are mislocalized, we transfected GFP-emerin cDNA constructs reflecting these mutations into undifferentiated C2C12 myoblasts and showed that both wild type and all the mutant emerins are targeted to the nuclear membrane, but the mutants to a lesser extent. Mutant Del236-241 (deletion in transmembrane region) was mainly expressed as cytoplasmic aggregates, with only trace amounts at the nuclear envelope. Complete removal of the transmembrane region and C-terminal tail relocated emerin to the nucleoplasm. Mutations in emerin's N-terminal domain had a less severe effect on disrupting nuclear envelope targeting. This data suggests that emerin contains multiple non-overlapping nuclear-membrane-targeting determinants. Analysis of material immunoisolated using emerin antibodies, from either undifferentiated C2C12 myoblasts or purified hepatocyte nuclei, demonstrated that both A- and B-type lamins and nuclear actin interact with emerin. This is the first report of proteins interacting with emerin. The EDMD phenotype can thus arise by either the absence or a reduction in emerin at the nuclear envelope, and both of these disrupt its interactions with that of structural components of the nucleus. We propose that an emerin-nuclear protein complex exists at the nuclear envelope and that one of its primary roles is to stabilize the nuclear membrane against the mechanical stresses that are generated in muscle cells during contraction. (+info)
Missense mutations in the rod domain of the lamin A/C gene as causes of dilated cardiomyopathy and conduction-system disease.
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BACKGROUND: Inherited mutations cause approximately 35 percent of cases of dilated cardiomyopathy; however, few genes associated with this disease have been identified. Previously, we located a gene defect that was responsible for autosomal dominant dilated cardiomyopathy and conduction-system disease on chromosome 1p1-q21, where nuclear-envelope proteins lamin A and lamin C are encoded by the LMNA (lamin A/C) gene. Mutations in the head or tail domain of this gene cause Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, a childhood-onset disease characterized by joint contractures and in some cases by abnormalities of cardiac conduction during adulthood. METHODS: We evaluated 11 families with autosomal dominant dilated cardiomyopathy and conduction-system disease. Sequences of the lamin A/C exons were determined in probands from each family, and variants were confirmed by restriction-enzyme digestion. The genotypes of the family members were ascertained. RESULTS: Five novel missense mutations were identified: four in the alpha-helical-rod domain of the lamin A/C gene, and one in the lamin C tail domain. Each mutation caused heritable, progressive conduction-system disease (sinus bradycardia, atrioventricular conduction block, or atrial arrhythmias) and dilated cardiomyopathy. Heart failure and sudden death occurred frequently within these families. No family members with mutations had either joint contractures or skeletal myopathy. Serum creatine kinase levels were normal in family members with mutations of the lamin rod but mildly elevated in some family members with a defect in the tail domain of lamin C. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic defects in distinct domains of the nuclear-envelope proteins lamin A and lamin C selectively cause dilated cardiomyopathy with conduction-system disease or autosomal dominant Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. Missense mutations in the rod domain of the lamin A/C gene provide a genetic cause for dilated cardiomyopathy and indicate that this intermediate filament protein has an important role in cardiac conduction and contractility. (+info)
Different mutations in the LMNA gene cause autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy.
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Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EMD) is a condition characterized by the clinical triad of early-onset contractures, progressive weakness in humeroperoneal muscles, and cardiomyopathy with conduction block. The disease was described for the first time as an X-linked muscular dystrophy, but autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive forms were reported. The genes for X-linked EMD and autosomal dominant EMD (AD-EMD) were identified. We report here that heterozygote mutations in LMNA, the gene for AD-EMD, may cause diverse phenotypes ranging from typical EMD to no phenotypic effect. Our results show that LMNA mutations are also responsible for the recessive form of the disease. Our results give further support to the notion that different genetic forms of EMD have a common pathophysiological background. The distribution of the mutations in AD-EMD patients (in the tail and in the 2A rod domain) suggests that unique interactions between lamin A/C and other nuclear components exist that have an important role in cardiac and skeletal muscle function. (+info)
Clinical variability and molecular diagnosis in a four-generation family with X-linked Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy.
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AIM: To describe the clinical variability of X-linked Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (X-EDMD) with cardiac involvement in a four-generation family with a novel mutation in the STA gene. METHODS: Clinical data were provided for 4 affected males and a female carrier. The Western blot analysis of emerin was performed on lymphoblastoid cell lines and followed by sequencing of the emerin gene. RESULTS: A thymine insertion at nucleotide 417 in exon 2, resulting in a frameshift with a premature stop codon at position 62 and absence of functional protein, was found in one of the three available patients. In ten-year-old proband's dizygotic twin-nephews the intermittent first-degree A-V block, atrial and ventricular ectopy, atrial runs, and exit sinus block were found, although the echocardiographic findings were normal. One of the twins also had short episodes of atrial fibrillation, idioventricular rhythm, and junctional rhythm. CONCLUSION: Cardiac abnormalities in the proband's ten-year-old dizygotic twins without evident clinical features suggestive of EDMD were remarkable in contrast to the oldest patient in the family, who lived to the age of 63 without a pacemaker, and to the proband who had a very early onset of muscle wasting and weakness, and a pacemaker implantation at the age of 27. This striking intra-familial variability in cardiac involvement associated with specific null mutation (417 ins T) has practical early diagnostic and possibly preventive implications. It also points at genetic and environmental factors as causes of clinical features in X-EDMD. (+info)
We report on a man that had weakness of humeroperoneal distribution associated with limited range of motion of the cervical spine and elbows since he was 5 years old. At age 26 he developed tachycardia episodes. A complex arrhythmia was discovered, and a nodal ablation was done with a cardiac pacemaker implanted. The patient had an arrhythmia and sudden death followed this. Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is a rare recessive X-linked muscular disorder where mixed patterns in electromyography and muscle histology (neurogenic and/or myopathic) have caused nosological confusion. The autopsy findings are here described and correlated to the clinical features in an attempt to better understand the ambiguous findings concerning the process etiology. (+info)
The spatial organization of human chromosomes within the nuclei of normal and emerin-mutant cells.
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To fully understand genome function, the linear genome map must be integrated with a spatial map of chromosomes in the nucleus. Distinct nuclear addresses for a few human chromosomes have been described. Previously we have demonstrated that the gene-rich human chromosome 19 is located in a more central position in the nucleus than the similarly sized, but gene-poor, chromosome 18. To determine whether these two chromosomes are a paradigm for the organization of chromatin in the human nucleus, we have now analysed the nuclear organization of every human chromosome in diploid lymphoblasts and primary fibroblasts. We find that the most gene-rich chromosomes concentrate at the centre of the nucleus, whereas the more gene-poor chromosomes are located towards the nuclear periphery. In contrast, we find no significant relationship between chromosome size and position within the nucleus. Proteins of the nuclear membrane or lamina are candidates for molecules that might anchor regions of the genome at the nuclear periphery and it has been suggested that disruption of this organization may play a role in some disease pathologies. We show that the intranuclear organization of chromosomes is not altered in cells that lack the integral nuclear membrane protein emerin, from an individual with X-linked Emery--Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. This suggests that emerin is not necessary for localizing chromosomes at the nuclear periphery and that the muscular dystrophy phenotype in such individuals is not due to grossly altered nuclear organization of chromatin. (+info)