Second locus for late-onset familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

가족성 근위축성측삭경화증을 유발시키는 두 번째 유전자 위치

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS) is a progressive neurologic disorder resulting from the degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons, and is inherited in 10% of cases. About 20% of familial ALS, clinically indistinguishable from sporadic ALS, is caused by mutations of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase on chromosome 21q22.21 inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. We now report a new locus in the non-SOD1 dominantly inherited ALS. We screened a large ALS family with 11 affected individuals and one obligate gene carrier with genome-wide ABI polymorphic markers using the ABI 377 automated system. No evidence of linkage was obtained with the autosomal markers. We next screened this family with X chromosome markers as there was no evidence of male-to-male tran-smission of the disease. Linkage was established with several X chromosome markers with a lod score up to 3.8; almost the maximum possible score in this family. Our finding imply that a gene for the dominant expression of a neuronal degeneration is coded on X chromosome and raise the question of the role of X-linked genes that escape inactivation in this pathogenesis. More importantly, our finding that a gene causing ALS is localized on X-chromosome has direct investigational relevance to sporadic ALS, where epidemiological studies show male gender predominance(1.3:1) and earlier onset in men by 5-10 years.