[Current Status of Genetic Diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: Variety of the Disease-causing Genes]

Brain Nerve. 2016 Jan;68(1):7-19. doi: 10.11477/mf.1416200341.
[Article in Japanese]

Abstract

At least 40 genes have been associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) and the related inherited neuropathies. Genetic studies have revealed the following factors as causes of inherited neuropathies: myelin components, transcription factors for myelination, myelin maintenance systems, differentiation factors of the peripheral nerve, neurofilaments, protein transfer systems, mitochondrial proteins, DNA repair, RNA/protein synthesis, ion channels, and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Since 2007, we have tried to screen for mutations in CMT patients using microarrays or next generation sequencers. As a result, the detection rate of gene mutations has improved to about 25%. In this study, we applied target resequencing to 72 genes. From the negative examples, we identified the cases based on clinical course, family history, and electrophysiological findings, and then performed exome analysis. We then tried to identify novel causative genes by analyzing the enormous data obtained from our exome analysis.

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Axons / metabolism
  • Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease / diagnosis*
  • Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease / genetics*
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease*
  • Humans
  • Molecular Diagnostic Techniques*
  • Mutation / genetics
  • Peripheral Nerves / metabolism*