The use of genomic microarrays to study chromosomal abnormalities in mental retardation.
Mental retardation affects 2 to 3% of the US population. It is defined by broad criteria, including significantly subaverage intelligence, onset by age 18, and impaired function in a group of adaptive skills. A myriad of genetic and environmental causes have been described, but for approximately half of individuals diagnosed with mental retardation the molecular basis remains unknown. Genomic microarrays, also called array comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH), represent one of several novel technologies that allow the detection of chromosomal abnormalities, such as microdeletions and microduplications, in a rapid, high throughput fashion from genomic DNA samples. In one early application of this technology, genomic microarrays have been used to characterize the extent of chromosomal changes in a group of patients diagnosed with one particular type of disorder that causes mental retardation, such as deletion 1p36 syndrome. In another application, DNA samples from individuals with idiopathic mental retardation have been assayed to scan the entire genome in attempts to identify chromosomal changes. Genomic microarrays offer both a genome-wide perspective of chromosomal aberrations as well as higher resolution (to the level of approximately one megabase) compared to alternative available technologies.
Mao
Rong
R
Program in Biochemistry, Molecular, and Cellular Biology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Department of Neurology, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Pevsner
Jonathan
J
D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D002887:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18 / Q000235:genetics; D041321:Chromosomes, Human, X / Q000235:genetics; D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000235:genetics*; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization / Q000235:genetics; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D010641:Phenotype; D013577:Syndrome; D019680:Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion / Q000235:genetics
D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1; C497683:FMR1 protein, human