• Journal of the Korean neurological association
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.333-336
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• 2012

Berardinelli-Seip congenital lipodystrophy 2 (BSCL2) gene is known to be associated with different clinical phenotypes; Silver syndrome, Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 with a dominant hand involvement and distal hereditary motor neuropathy type V (dHMN-V). Up to now, only two heterozygous mutations (N88S and S90L) in BSCL2 have been reported. We identified a N88S BSCL2 mutation in a dHMN-V family with a spastic gait by whole-exome sequencing. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a N88S BSCL2 mutation in Korean patient.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.83-93
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• 2021

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is the most common hereditary motor and sensory peripheral neuropathy. CMT is usually classified into two categories based on pathology: demyelinating CMT type 1 (CMT1) and axonal CMT type 2 (CMT2) neuropathy. CMT1 can be distinguished by assessing the median motor nerve conduction velocity as greater than 38 m/s. The main clinical features of axonal CMT2 neuropathy are distal muscle weakness and loss of sensory and areflexia. In addition, they showed unusual clinical features, including delayed development, hearing loss, pyramidal signs, vocal cord paralysis, optic atrophy, and abnormal pupillary reactions. Recently, customized treatments for genetic diseases have been developed, and pregnancy diagnosis can enable the birth of a normal child when the causative gene mutation is found in CMT2. Therefore, accurate diagnosis based on genotype/phenotypic correlations is becoming more important. In this review, we describe the latest findings on the phenotypic characteristics of axonal CMT2 neuropathy. We hope that this review will be useful for clinicians in regard to the diagnosis and treatment of CMT.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.89-91
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• 2020

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease can be divided mainly into demyelination and axonopathy based on the results of the electrophysiological study. Mitofusin 2, encoded by MFN2 gene, has a crucial role in the fusion of mitochondria, which is known to associate with CMT type 2A as one of the axonal forms. We describe a 44-year-old man with progressive weakness on bilateral legs after noticing foot drop in his early teen. When we examined him at 45 years of age, he presented atrophy on entire legs and with distal muscle weakness on limbs. The nerve conduction study revealed severely decreased amplitude on motor nerve ranging from 0.2 to 4.5 mV, while conduction velocity remained more than 30.4 m/s. The whole-exome sequencing revealed a novel variant c.2228G>T in MFN2 by efficient genetic analysis tool, MutationDistiller. This report will not only expand the mutation spectrum of CMT2A but also introduce a time-saving genetic analysis tool.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.231-242
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• 2022

The neuromuscular junction (NMJ), which is a synapse for signal transmission from motor neurons to muscle cells, has emerged as an important region because of its association with several peripheral neuropathies. In particular, mutations in GARS that affect the formation of NMJ result in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and distal hereditary motor neuropathy. These disorders are mainly considered to be caused by neuronal axon abnormalities; however, no treatment is currently available. Therefore, in order to determine whether the NMJ could be targeted to treat neurodegenerative disorders, we investigated the NMJ recovery effect of HDAC6 inhibitors, which have been used in the treatment of several peripheral neuropathies. In the present study, we demonstrated that HDAC6 inhibition was sufficient to enhance movement by restoring NMJ impairments observed in a zebrafish disease model. We found that CKD-504, a novel HDAC6 inhibitor, was effective in repairing NMJ defects, suggesting that treatment of neurodegenerative diseases via NMJ targeting is possible.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 2002

Objectives : Although the diagnosis of hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) is important for correct prognostic evaluation and genetic counseling, the diagnosis is frequently missed or delayed. Our main aim on undertaking this study was to characterize the electrodiagnostic features of HNPP. Material and Methods : Clinical, electrophysiologic and molecular studies were performed on Korean HNPP patients with 17p11.2 deletion. The results of electrophysiologic studies were compared with those of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A) patients carrying 17p11.2 duplication. Results : Eight HNPP (50 motor, 39 sensory nerves) and six CMT1A (28 motor, 16 sensory nerves) patients were included. The slowing of sensory conduction in nearly all nerves and the distal accentuation of motor conduction abnormalities are the main features of background polyneuropathy in HNPP. In contrast to CMT1A, where severity of nerve conduction slowing was not different among nerve groups, HNPP sensory nerve conduction was more slowed in the median and ulnar nerves than in the sural nerve (p<0.01), and DML was more prolonged in the median nerve than in the other motor nerves (p<0.01). TLIs were significantly lower in HNPP than in the normal control and CMT1A patients for the median and ulnar nerves (p<0.01), and were also significantly reduced for the peroneal nerve (p<0.05) compared with those of the normal controls. Conclusion : The distribution and severity of the background electrophysiologic abnormalities are closely related to the topography of common entrapment or compression sites, which suggests the possible pathogenetic role of subclinical pressure injury at these sites in the development of the distinct background polyneuropathy in HNPP.