title: Mutation analysis of 16S rRNA in patients with Rett syndrome.
abstract: Rett syndrome (RTT) is a progressive neurodevelopmental disorder that affects one in 10,000-15,000 females. RTT is mainly sporadic; familial cases have an estimated frequency of less than 1%. Before the recent identification of de novo dominant mutations in the X-linked MECP2 gene, many other hypotheses had been proposed to explain the particular pattern of inheritance and the phenotypic expression of the disease. The involvement of mitochondrial DNA had been investigated because of the structural and functional mitochondrial abnormalities evident in the patients. In 1997 the finding of mutations at 16S rRNA in several affected RTT females and their mothers was reported, suggesting that mitochondrial DNA might play a key role in the pathogenesis of RTT. To investigate the relevance of such mutations, we used the same methodologic approach to analyze RTT mitochondrial DNA in our series. No 16S rRNA alterations were evident in 27 Spanish patients with classic RTT.
authors.affiliation: Genetics Section, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pineda
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Monrós
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D051783:Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015518:Rett Syndrome / Q000235:genetics*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C497392:MECP2 protein, human; D051783:Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2; D012097:Repressor Proteins