A new familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis locus on chromosome 16q12.1-16q12.2
Abalkhail, H.; Mitchell, J.; Habgood, J.; Orrell, R.; de Belleroche, J.
American Journal of Human Genetics 73(2): 383-389
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9297 PMID: 12830400 DOI: 10.1086/377156
Accession: 009746476
Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS) affects 5%-10% of cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and is inherited as an autosomal dominant condition with incomplete penetrance. One-fifth of these cases of FALS are associated with mutations in copper/zinc-dependent superoxide dismutase (SOD1), but the gene defect in the remaining 80% of familial cases is, as yet, unknown. We have carried out a preliminary genome screen, using a U.K. resource of families lacking SOD1 mutations, to identify other potential disease loci and have identified a putative locus on chromosome 16q12.1-q12.2. The region associated with disease was further refined in the major family that contributed to this result and was localized to D16S409-D16S3032, a 14.74-cM genetic interval that corresponds to a physical distance of 6.6 Mb, which coincides with a region independently identified by two further research groups in the United States and the United Kingdom.