Murine model of Niemann-Pick C disease: mutation in a cholesterol homeostasis gene

Science. 1997 Jul 11;277(5323):232-5. doi: 10.1126/science.277.5323.232.

Abstract

An integrated human-mouse positional candidate approach was used to identify the gene responsible for the phenotypes observed in a mouse model of Niemann-Pick type C (NP-C) disease. The predicted murine NPC1 protein has sequence homology to the putative transmembrane domains of the Hedgehog signaling molecule Patched, to the cholesterol-sensing regions of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase and SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP), and to the NPC1 orthologs identified in human, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The mouse model may provide an important resource for studying the role of NPC1 in cholesterol homeostasis and neurodegeneration and for assessing the efficacy of new drugs for NP-C disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Cholesterol / metabolism*
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Homeostasis
  • Humans
  • Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases / chemistry
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • Lysosomes / metabolism
  • Membrane Proteins / chemistry
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Mutant Strains
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation
  • Niemann-Pick C1 Protein
  • Niemann-Pick Diseases / genetics*
  • Niemann-Pick Diseases / metabolism
  • Phenotype
  • Protein Sorting Signals / chemistry
  • Proteins / chemistry
  • Proteins / genetics*
  • Proteins / physiology
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid

Substances

  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Niemann-Pick C1 Protein
  • Npc1 protein, mouse
  • Protein Sorting Signals
  • Proteins
  • SREBP cleavage-activating protein
  • Cholesterol
  • Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases

Associated data

  • GENBANK/AF003348
  • GENBANK/AF003349
  • GENBANK/AF003350
  • GENBANK/AF003351
  • GENBANK/AF003352