title: To switch or not to switch: at the origin of repeat expansion disease.
abstract: Expansions of DNA repeats cause hereditary disorders in humans. Gerhardt et al. (2014) argue that a developmental switch in the direction of DNA replication through the (CGG)n repeat predisposes it to expansions during intergenerational transmissions leading to fragile X syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Ekaterina V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Mirkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA. Electronic address: sergei.mirkin@tufts.edu.
authors.forename: Sergei M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mirkin
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D004261:DNA Replication; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D005600:Fragile X Syndrome / Q000196:embryology; D056426:Genetic Loci; D018911:Trinucleotide Repeats
chemical_list: D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1; C497683:FMR1 protein, human