[Biochemical genetics of peroxisomal disorders]. / Biokhimicheskaia genetika peroksisomnykh boleznei.

This review is the first one dealing specifically with a class of peroxisomal disorders that remain virtually unfamiliar to Russian medical genetic consultants and pediatricians. Data are presented that concern classification, genetics, characterization of clinical and biochemical phenotype, prevention, and therapy of 18 nosological units included in the class of peroxisomal disorders. Problems of general biological significance are reviewed, which can be solved using peroxisomal disorders as a valuable experimental model.

[Dependence of the concentration of maternal serum markers on the haptoglobin gene]. / Zavisimost' kontsentratsii materinskikh syvorotochnykh markerov ot gena gaptoglobina.

This paper is the first in a series devoted to the investigation of the possible effect of maternal genotype on the levels of fetal alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) entering maternal blood. We studied the possible association between the maternal haptoglobin system and levels of maternal AFP and HCG, which are markers of fetal pathology. Haptoglobin types were determined in groups of pregnant women with different levels of serum markers. Distribution of haptoglobin types differed from the theoretically expected in one out of five groups tested. In the group with low AFP level, a significant decrease in frequency of the Hp*2 allele was found. A statistically significant decrease of the mean haptoglobin concentration in the group with low levels of AFP and elevated levels of HCG was observed. A reduction in serum haptoglobin concentration was shown to be accompanied by a decrease of serum iron concentration. The possible mechanism underlying the influence of maternal genotype on the levels of AFP and HCG in maternal blood are discussed.

[Isolation and analysis of brain-specific sequences from cDNA libraries for various segments of the human brain]. / Vydelenie i analiz mozgospetsificheskikh posledovatel'nostei iz bibliotek kDNK raznykh otedelov mozga cheloveka.

The cDNA libraries in gt10 were constructed from total poly(A)+RNA of human forebrain cortex, cerebellar cortex and medulla oblongata. We selected the clones which gave hybridization signal with brain cDNA only, or gave no signal from these libraries. Expression pattern and structure of two brain-specific clones Hfb1 from forebrain library and Hmob3 from medulla oblongata library were analyzed in detail. Hfb1 hybridized to two different transcripts (about 5 and 2 kb) from frontal cortex, but to a single (longest) from cerebellum. Hfb1 sequence includes 958 nucleotides. Comparison of Hfb1 with the Gene Bank revealed no homology with the sequences present in the Bank. At 3'-end there is poly(A) tail of 24 bases, there is the AATCAA sequence 55 nucleotides upstream which probably serves as a polyadenylation signal. However, AATCAA directs polyadenylation in vitro with very low efficiency. We found no open reading frame in the clone and this is in agreement with the data indicating that brain-specific RNAs has extremely long 3'-untranslated regions. Hmob3 was partially sequences. We compared its primary structure with the sequences from the Gene Bank and revealed no homology. Hmob3 expresses in different parts of human brain and in sceletal muscle but does not express in other tissues.