GM2 gangliosidosis, a subset of lysosomal storage disorders, is caused by a deficiency of the glycohydrolase, β-N-acetylhexosaminidase, and includes the closely related Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases. The enzyme deficiency prevents the normal, stepwise degradation of ganglioside, which accumulates unchecked within the cellular lysosome, particularly in neurons. As a result, individuals with GM...

The GM2 gangliosidosis are a group of metabolic disorders in which deficiency of a lysosomal enzyme, hexosaminidase A (Hex A), leads to an abnormal intracellular accumulation of lipids in neurons and glia. Total deficiency is responsible for a fatal infantile disorder, Tay-Sachs disease, characterized by involution in motor abilities, hypotonia, seizures and cortical blindness, with death aroun...

A modified program designed to screen for the Tay-Sachs carrier is presented in which testing is limited to one or both partners, as needed, in an Ashkenazi Jewish (Jews of central and eastern Europe ancestry) mating when there is a definite commitment toward having a child, or in the early stages of the pregnancy. Testing of unmarried individuals is discouraged. The approach maximizes individu...

The mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle was investigated in skeletal muscle biopsies of 26 patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and compared with investigations of 28 age-matched control muscle samples and biopsies of 6 patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and two patients with Tay-Sachs disease. In comparison to the control, SMA and Tay-Sachs biopsies, we obs...

A crude /I-hexosaminidase fraction prepared by (NH,),SO( fractionation of human liver extract or urine was found to convert Tay-Sachs ganglioside, GalNAcPl -+ 4(NANcrZ -+ 3)Gal/31 --f 4Glc + ceramide (G& into NAN& + 3Galfil -+ 4 Glc + ceramide (GMM3). After separation of hexosaminidase A and B by DEAE-cellulose chromatography, only freshly prepared fi-hexosaminidase A hydrolyzed GM2 although bo...

Mouse models of the GM2 gangliosidoses [Tay-Sachs, late onset Tay-Sachs (LOTS), Sandhoff] and GM1 gangliosidosis have been studied to determine whether there is a common neuro-inflammatory component to these disorders. During the disease course, we have: (i) examined the expression of a number of inflammatory markers in the CNS, including MHC class II, CD68, CD11b (CR3), 7/4, F4/80, nitrotyrosi...

Brett, E. M., Ellis, R. B., Haas, L., Ikonne, J. U., Lake, B. D., Patrick, A. D., and Stephens, R. (1973). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 48, 775. Late onset GM2-gangliosidosis: clinical, pathological, and biochemical studies on 8 patients. Eight cases of late onset Gm,-gangliosidosis are described. 4 presented before the age of 2 years and 4 between 3j and 10 years. Gait disturbance, intell...

Familial lipodystrophic conditions, such as Gaucher's, Niemann-Pick, and Tay-Sachs disease, are characterized by the intracellular accumulation of abnormally large quantities of sphingolipids. In Gaucher's disease, the offending lipids are cerebrosides, while Niemann-Pick and Tay-Sachs diseases are characterized by the accumulation of sphingomyelin and gangliosides, respectively. In Gaucher's a...

Drosophila melanogaster flies cross surmountable gaps in their walkway of widths exceeding their body length with an astounding maneuver but avoid attempts at insurmountable gaps by visual width estimation. Different mutant lines affect specific aspects of this maneuver, indicating a high complexity and modularity of the underlying motor control. Here we report on two mutants, ocelliless(1) and...