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Animal and cellular models of familial dysautonomia

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An Erratum to this article was published on 17 July 2017

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Abstract

Since Riley and Day first described the clinical phenotype of patients with familial dysautonomia (FD) over 60 years ago, the field has made considerable progress clinically, scientifically, and translationally in treating and understanding the etiology of FD. FD is classified as a hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy (HSAN type III) and is both a developmental and a progressive neurodegenerative condition that results from an autosomal recessive mutation in the gene IKBKAP, also known as ELP1. FD primarily impacts the peripheral nervous system but also manifests in central nervous system disruption, especially in the retina and optic nerve. While the disease is rare, the rapid progress being made in elucidating the molecular and cellular mechanisms mediating the demise of neurons in FD should provide insight into degenerative pathways common to many neurological disorders. Interestingly, the protein encoded by IKBKAP/ELP1, IKAP or ELP1, is a key scaffolding subunit of the six-subunit Elongator complex, and variants in other Elongator genes are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), intellectual disability, and Rolandic epilepsy. Here we review the recent model systems that are revealing the molecular and cellular pathophysiological mechanisms mediating FD. These powerful model systems can now be used to test targeted therapeutics for mitigating neuronal loss in FD and potentially other disorders.

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  • 17 July 2017

    An erratum to this article has been published.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA

    Frances Lefcort, Marc Mergy, Sarah B. Ohlen & Yumi Ueki

  2. Department of Biological and Physical Sciences, Montana State University Billings, Billings, MT, 59101, USA

    Lynn George

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  1. Frances Lefcort
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  2. Marc Mergy
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  3. Sarah B. Ohlen
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  4. Yumi Ueki
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  5. Lynn George
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Correspondence to Frances Lefcort.

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An erratum to this article is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-017-0453-3.

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Lefcort, F., Mergy, M., Ohlen, S.B. et al. Animal and cellular models of familial dysautonomia. Clin Auton Res 27, 235–243 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-017-0438-2

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