Regulation of c-Ret in the developing kidney is responsive to Pax2 gene dosage

Abstract Polymorphisms within the Rh blood group system have been defined by serologic agglutination methods, but have not yet been defined at the DNA level. Two closely related genes associated with the Rh D antigen and with the Rh C/c and E/e antigens have been cloned. We used a Southern analysis incorporating probes to the 5′ and 3′ regions of the Rh C, E gene and D gene to identify polymorphisms associated with Rh C/c and E/e antigens, respectively. The D gene dosage could be determined by comparing the relative intensities of the D bands with bands from the 5′ and 3′ region of the Rh C, E gene. The concordance between restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns and serologic phenotypes for 102 randomly selected blood donors was 100% for C, e, and D, 94.8% for c, and 94.3% for E. The data are consistent with the sequences encoding the C/c epitopes residing on the 5′ side of those for the E/e epitopes. All samples discordant for the 3′ probe and E had the cE (r″) serotype. These data show that the gene coding for the cE serotype is different in Rh-positive and -negative individuals. The study demonstrates that Rh DNA typing, including D gene dosage measurements and Rh gene haplotyping, may supplement traditional serotyping methods in transfusion medicine.

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Characterization of Caenorhabditis elegans Homologs of the Down Syndrome Candidate Gene DYRK1A

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/163.2.571 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 163 (2) ◽

pp. 571-580 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

William B Raich ◽

Celine Moorman ◽

Clay O Lacefield ◽

Jonah Lehrer ◽

Dusan Bartsch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽

Trisomy 21 ◽

Gene Dosage ◽

Inducible Promoters ◽

C Elegans ◽

Dual Specificity ◽

Specificity Protein

Abstract The pathology of trisomy 21/Down syndrome includes cognitive and memory deficits. Increased expression of the dual-specificity protein kinase DYRK1A kinase (DYRK1A) appears to play a significant role in the neuropathology of Down syndrome. To shed light on the cellular role of DYRK1A and related genes we identified three DYRK/minibrain-like genes in the genome sequence of Caenorhabditis elegans, termed mbk-1, mbk-2, and hpk-1. We found these genes to be widely expressed and to localize to distinct subcellular compartments. We isolated deletion alleles in all three genes and show that loss of mbk-1, the gene most closely related to DYRK1A, causes no obvious defects, while another gene, mbk-2, is essential for viability. The overexpression of DYRK1A in Down syndrome led us to examine the effects of overexpression of its C. elegans ortholog mbk-1. We found that animals containing additional copies of the mbk-1 gene display behavioral defects in chemotaxis toward volatile chemoattractants and that the extent of these defects correlates with mbk-1 gene dosage. Using tissue-specific and inducible promoters, we show that additional copies of mbk-1 can impair olfaction cell-autonomously in mature, fully differentiated neurons and that this impairment is reversible. Our results suggest that increased gene dosage of human DYRK1A in trisomy 21 may disrupt the function of fully differentiated neurons and that this disruption is reversible.

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