title: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A: molecular mechanisms of gene dosage and point mutation underlying a common inherited peripheral neuropathy.
abstract: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A is a demyelinating, inherited peripheral neuropathy which is associated with a DNA duplication in chromosome 17p11.2-p12 in over 70% of patients with CMT1A. The CMT1A duplication is not detected cytogenetically, and constitutes a tandem duplication of a 1.5-Mb region of DNA flanked by homologous sequences designated as CMT1A-REP. Detection of the CMT1A duplication by molecular methods is a valuable diagnostic test for the majority of CMT1A cases. This duplication mutation shows stable inheritance through multiple generations, and may also arise as a new mutation in sporadic patients. The CMT1A duplication leads to the disease phenotype apparently through increased dosage of a gene(s) within the duplicated segment. A disease gene associated with CMT1A has been identified in the form of PMP22, which maps within the CMT1A duplication region, and encodes a myelin protein of the peripheral nerve. Point mutations in the PMP22 gene have been identified in CMT1A patients, including one case of a new mutation in PMP22 which coincided with the onset of the disease. Thus, two alternative molecular mechanisms are responsible for CMT1A: DNA duplication leading to increased gene dosage, and point mutation of the PMP22 gene.
authors: Institute for Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors: B B
authors: BB
authors: Roa
authors: C A
authors: CA
authors: Garcia
authors: J R
authors: JR
authors: Lupski
mesh_terms: D002607:Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D018628:Gene Dosage; D020440:Gene Duplication; D006801:Humans; D017354:Point Mutation / Q000235:genetics