DM (myotonic dystrophy) is a dominantly inherited genetic disorder that is the most common cause of muscular dystrophy in adults affecting 1 in 8500 individuals worldwide. Different microsatellite expansions in two loci cause different forms of the disease that share similar features: DM1 (DM type 1) is caused by a tri- (CTG) nucleotide expansion within the DMPK (dystrophia myotonica protein kinase) 3′-untranslated region and DM2 (DM type 2) is caused by a tetra- (CCTG) nucleotide expansion within intron 1 of the ZNF9 (zinc finger 9) gene. The pathogenic mechanism of this disease involves the RNA transcribed from the expanded allele containing long tracts of (CUG)n or (CCUG)n. The RNA results in a toxic effect through two RNA-binding proteins: MBNL1 (muscleblind-like 1) and CUGBP1 (CUG-binding protein 1). In DM1, MBNL1 is sequestered on CUG repeat-containing RNA resulting in its loss-of-function, while CUGBP1 is up-regulated through a signalling pathway. The downstream effects include disrupted regulation of alternative splicing, mRNA translation and mRNA stability, which contribute to the multiple features of DM1. This review will focus on the RNA gain-of-function disease mechanism, the important roles of MBNL1 and CUGBP1 in DM1, and the relevance to other RNA dominant disorders.
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December 2009
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Conference Article|
November 19 2009
Pathogenic mechanisms of myotonic dystrophy
Johanna E. Lee;
Johanna E. Lee
*Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, U.S.A.
†Interdepartmental Program of Cell and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, U.S.A.
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Thomas A. Cooper
Thomas A. Cooper
1
*Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, U.S.A.
†Interdepartmental Program of Cell and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, U.S.A.
‡Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, U.S.A.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email tcooper@bcm.edu).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
July 06 2009
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Biochemical Society
2009
Biochem Soc Trans (2009) 37 (6): 1281–1286.
Article history
Received:
July 06 2009
Citation
Johanna E. Lee, Thomas A. Cooper; Pathogenic mechanisms of myotonic dystrophy. Biochem Soc Trans 1 December 2009; 37 (6): 1281–1286. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0371281
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