Human Molecular Genetics, 2003, Vol. 12, No. 9 949-959
DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddg114
© 2003 Oxford University Press
The FMR1 CGG repeat mouse displays ubiquitin-positive intranuclear neuronal inclusions; implications for the cerebellar tremor/ataxia syndrome


1CBG-Department of Clinical Genetics and 2Department of Neurosciences, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands and 3Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Davis, CA, USA
Received November 1, 2002; Accepted February 24, 2003
Recent studies have reported that alleles in the premutation range in the FMR1 gene in males result in increased FMR1 mRNA levels and at the same time mildly reduced FMR1 protein levels. Some elderly males with premutations exhibit an unique neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by progressive intention tremor and ataxia. We describe neurohistological, biochemical and molecular studies of the brains of mice with an expanded CGG repeat and report elevated Fmr1 mRNA levels and intranuclear inclusions with ubiquitin, Hsp40 and the 20S catalytic core complex of the proteasome as constituents. An increase was observed of both the number and the size of the inclusions during the course of life, which correlates with the progressive character of the cerebellar tremor/ataxia syndrome in humans. The observations in expanded-repeat mice support a direct role of the Fmr1 gene, by either CGG expansion per se or by mRNA level, in the formation of the inclusions and suggest a correlation between the presence of intranuclear inclusions in distinct regions of the brain and the clinical features in symptomatic premutation carriers. This mouse model will facilitate the possibilities to perform studies at the molecular level from onset of symptoms until the final stage of the disease.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed at: CBG-Dept of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 104087198; Fax: +31 104089489; Email: b.oostra{at}erasmusmc.nl
The authors wish it to be known that, in their opinion, the first two authors should be known as joint First Authors.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
K. Usdin The biological effects of simple tandem repeats: Lessons from the repeat expansion diseases Genome Res., July 1, 2008; 18(7): 1011 - 1019. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Entezam and K. Usdin ATR protects the genome against CGG{middle dot}CCG-repeat expansion in Fragile X premutation mice Nucleic Acids Res., February 11, 2008; 36(3): 1050 - 1056. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
K. Amiri, R. J. Hagerman, and P. J. Hagerman Fragile X Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome: An Aging Face of the Fragile X Gene Arch Neurol, January 1, 2008; 65(1): 19 - 25. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
E.G. Allen, A.K. Sullivan, M. Marcus, C. Small, C. Dominguez, M.P. Epstein, K. Charen, W. He, K.C. Taylor, and S.L. Sherman Examination of reproductive aging milestones among women who carry the FMR1 premutation Hum. Reprod., August 1, 2007; 22(8): 2142 - 2152. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. F. Mehler and J. S. Mattick Noncoding RNAs and RNA Editing in Brain Development, Functional Diversification, and Neurological Disease Physiol Rev, July 1, 2007; 87(3): 799 - 823. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. W. Kurz, A. Melissa Schlitter, Y. Klenk, T. Mueller, J. P. Larsen, D. Aarsland, and G. Dekomien FMR1 Alleles in Parkinson's Disease: Relation to Cognitive Decline and Hallucinations, A Longitudinal Study J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol, June 1, 2007; 20(2): 89 - 92. [Abstract] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Falk, T. E. Karlsson, S. Kurdija, J. Frisen, and J. Zupicich High-Throughput Identification of Genes Promoting Neuron Formation and Lineage Choice in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Stem Cells, June 1, 2007; 25(6): 1539 - 1545. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
R. J. Osborne and C. A. Thornton RNA-dominant diseases Hum. Mol. Genet., October 15, 2006; 15(suppl_2): R162 - R169. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. M. Greco, R. F. Berman, R. M. Martin, F. Tassone, P. H. Schwartz, A. Chang, B. D. Trapp, C. Iwahashi, J. Brunberg, J. Grigsby, et al. Neuropathology of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) Brain, January 1, 2006; 129(1): 243 - 255. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J.-M. Gallo, P. Jin, C. A. Thornton, H. Lin, J. Robertson, I. D'Souza, and W. W. Schlaepfer The Role of RNA and RNA Processing in Neurodegeneration J. Neurosci., November 9, 2005; 25(45): 10372 - 10375. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. P. O'Dwyer, C. Clabby, J. Crown, D. E. Barton, and M. Hutchinson Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome presenting in a woman after chemotherapy Neurology, July 26, 2005; 65(2): 331 - 332. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. J. Mulvihill, K. N. Edamura, K. A. Hagerman, C. E. Pearson, and Y.-H. Wang Effect of CAT or AGG Interruptions and CpG Methylation on Nucleosome Assembly upon Trinucleotide Repeats on Spinocerebellar Ataxia, Type 1 and Fragile X Syndrome J. Biol. Chem., February 11, 2005; 280(6): 4498 - 4503. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A.K. Sullivan, M. Marcus, M.P. Epstein, E.G. Allen, A.E. Anido, J.J. Paquin, M. Yadav-Shah, and S.L. Sherman Association of FMR1 repeat size with ovarian dysfunction Hum. Reprod., February 1, 2005; 20(2): 402 - 412. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Napierala, D. Michalowski, M. de Mezer, and W. J. Krzyzosiak Facile FMR1 mRNA structure regulation by interruptions in CGG repeats Nucleic Acids Res., January 19, 2005; 33(2): 451 - 463. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
F Tassone, R J Hagerman, D Garcia-Arocena, E W Khandjian, C M Greco, and P J Hagerman Intranuclear inclusions in neural cells with premutation alleles in fragile X associated tremor/ataxia syndrome J. Med. Genet., April 1, 2004; 41(4): e43 - e43. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Lin, J. Zhai, R. Canete-Soler, and W. W. Schlaepfer 3' Untranslated Region in a Light Neurofilament (NF-L) mRNA Triggers Aggregation of NF-L and Mutant Superoxide Dismutase 1 Proteins in Neuronal Cells J. Neurosci., March 17, 2004; 24(11): 2716 - 2726. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Jacquemont, R. J. Hagerman, M. A. Leehey, D. A. Hall, R. A. Levine, J. A. Brunberg, L. Zhang, T. Jardini, L. W. Gane, S. W. Harris, et al. Penetrance of the Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome in a Premutation Carrier Population JAMA, January 28, 2004; 291(4): 460 - 469. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
B. A. Oostra and R. Willemsen A fragile balance: FMR1 expression levels Hum. Mol. Genet., October 15, 2003; 12(90002): R249 - 257. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||













