title: Frequent low penetrance mutations in the Lamin A/C gene, causing Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy.
abstract: Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by the clinical triad of early onset contractures, progressive muscular wasting and weakness with humeroperoneal distribution and cardiac conduction defects. Mutations in the Lamin A/C (LMNA) gene are responsible for the autosomal dominant and the autosomal recessive forms. Familiar and sporadic patients carrying mutations in the LMNA gene show high variability in the clinical symptomatology and age of onset. In this report, we describe four families harboring missense mutations in the LMNA gene and we show that the effect of mutations ranges from silent to fully penetrant. We suggest that incomplete penetrance of dominant mutations in the LMNA gene is a common feature and we emphasize the significance of mutational analysis in relatives of sporadic cases of laminopathies, as asymptomatic carriers face high risk of sudden cardiac death.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Genetics-CNR, Via Abbiategrasso, 207, 27100, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vytopil
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dello Russo
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hanisch
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neudecker
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zierz
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ricotti
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Demay
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wehnert
authors.forename: Gisèle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonne
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Merlini
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Toniolo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000378:metabolism; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis / Q000379:methods; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D005799:Genes, Dominant; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D034904:Lamin Type A / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D020389:Muscular Dystrophy, Emery-Dreifuss / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D010375:Pedigree; D019683:Penetrance
chemical_list: D034904:Lamin Type A; C440308:lamin C; D003402:Creatine Kinase