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Mutations in SIL1 cause Marinesco-Sjögren syndrome, a cerebellar ataxia with cataract and myopathy.

Senderek J, Krieger M, Stendel C, Bergmann C, Moser M, Breitbach-Faller N, Rudnik-Schöneborn S, Blaschek A, Wolf NI, Harting I, North K, Smith J, Muntoni F, Brockington M, Quijano-Roy S, Renault F, Herrmann R, Hendershot LM, Schröder JM, Lochmüller H, Topaloglu H, Voit T, Weis J, Ebinger F, Zerres K

Department of Human Genetics, Aachen University of Technology, Aachen, Germany. jsenderek@ukaachen.de

SIL1 (also called BAP) acts as a nucleotide exchange factor for the Hsp70 chaperone BiP (also called GRP78), which is a key regulator of the main functions of the endoplasmic reticulum. We found nine distinct mutations that would disrupt the SIL1 protein in individuals with Marinesco-Sjögren syndrome, an autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxia complicated by cataracts, developmental delay and myopathy. Identification of SIL1 mutations implicates Marinesco-Sjögren syndrome as a disease of endoplasmic reticulum dysfunction and suggests a role for this organelle in multisystem disorders.

Published 29 November 2005 in Nat Genet, 37(12): 1312-4.
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