• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.21-24
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• 1999

To study the X chromesome mosaicism in the cytogenetically pure 45,X Turner syndrome patients, we applied PCR technique using DNAs extracted from archived cytogenetic slides. We amplified the DNAs using nested primers targeted to a highly polymorphic short tandem repeat(STR) of the human androgen receptor gene(HUMARA) for the detection of X chromosome mosaicism. This assay is a very sensitive and useful method which can be applied to the DNAs extracted from archived cytogenetic slides to detect X mosaicism. We have tested 50 normal Korean females to determine whether the HUMARA locus is highly polymorphic among Koreans. 85% of Korean population showed heterozygosity in the HUMARA locus. We analysed the 24 DNAs extracted from archived slides of patients and abortuses with Turner syndrome in cytogenetic analysis. We observed the heterozygosities of 50% from pure 45,X patients, 83% from the patients with mosaic Turner syndrome and 8.3% from the abortuses of pure 45,X. Using the PCR technique of the HUMARA locus in the archived cytogenetic slides, we detected X chromosome mosaicism which could not be detected in cytogenetic analysis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.150-160
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• 1999

Background: The CREST syndrome is an indolent form of progressive systemic sclerosis. Although its clinical progress is indolent, pulmonary hypertension(PH) associated with CREST syndrome have grave prognosis with over 40 percent mortality rate at 2 year follow-up. But the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension in this disease is not known, and classified as either primary or secondary PH. Clonality of endothelial cell proliferation in plexiform lesion is a molecular marker which allows distinction between primary and secondary PH. We performed this study to know whether the PH associated with CREST syndrome is a variant of primary PH or is a secondary PH. Methods: We assessed the X-chromosome inactivation based on the methylation pattern of the human androgen-receptor gene by PCR(HUMARA). Endothelial cells in plexiform lesions from female patients(n=3) with PH associated with CREST syndrome were microdissected from paraffin blocks. Vascular smooth muscle cells and lung parenchyma were also microdissected for clonality studies. Results: The proliferating endothelial cells in 14 plexiform lesions were all polyclonal. Similarly proliferated smooth muscle cells from 5 vessels with medial hypertrophy were also polyclonal. Conclusion: These results suggest that the pulmonary hypertension associated with CREST syndrome has different pathogenesis from primary PH and to be classified as secondary PH.