Chaperones, also called heat shock proteins (HSPs), transiently interact with proteins to aid their folding, trafficking, and degradation, thereby directly influencing the transport of newly synthesized molecules. Induction of chaperones provides a potential therapeutic approach for protein misfolding disorders, such as peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22)-associated peripheral neuropathies. Cy...

Haploinsufficiency of peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) causes hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies, a peripheral nerve lesion induced by minimal trauma or compression. As PMP22 is localized to cholesterol-enriched membrane domains that are closely linked with the underlying actin network, we asked whether the myelin instability associated with PMP22 deficiency could be m...

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A) is caused by an increased dosage of the peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) gene or by point mutations affecting the same gene. Based on in vitro data, PMP22 might be involved, besides in its proven role in the regulation of myelination and myelin maintenance, in the control of Schwann cell proliferation and programmed cell death. In this report, we ...

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1 A (CMT1A, OMIM #118220) and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP or tomaculous neu-ropathy, OMIM #162500) are autosomal dominantly inherited neuropathies caused by genomic rearrangements on chromosome 17p11.2-p12 containing PMP22. Heterozygous PMP22 duplications result in a peripheral neuropathy characterized by distal muscular atroph...

PURPOSE Integrin-mediated collagen gel contraction by ARPE-19 is an in vitro model for proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), an aberrant wound healing response after retinal detachment or ocular trauma. Expression of the tetraspan protein epithelial membrane protein 2 (EMP2) controls gel contraction through FAK activation. Peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22), another member of the tetraspan w...

We sequenced and characterized PMP22 (22-kD peroxisomal membrane protein) from Arabidopsis, which shares 28% to 30% amino acid identity and 55% to 57% similarity to two related mammalian peroxisomal membrane proteins, PMP22 and Mpv17. Subcellular fractionation studies confirmed that the Arabidopsis PMP22 is a genuine peroxisomal membrane protein. Biochemical analyses established that the Arabid...

Mutations in the genes for peripheral myelin protein-22 (PMP22) and myelin protein zero (P0) cause human hereditary neuropathies with varying clinical and pathological phenotypes. In this study, we examine the effects of representative disease-causing mutations on the subcellular distribution of their corresponding PMP22- and P0-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) fusion proteins. In tran...

Myelin insulates axons in the peripheral nervous system to allow rapid propagation of action potentials, and proper myelination requires the precise regulation of genes encoding myelin proteins, including PMP22. The correct gene dosage of PMP22 is critical; a duplication of PMP22 is the most common cause of the peripheral neuropathy Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (CMT) (classified as type 1A), whi...

Hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) is an autosomal dominant disorder mainly due to a deletion of chromosome 17p11.2 including PMP22 (PMP22 Del HNPP). The prevalence of HNPP is estimated to be 0.84 to 16 per 100,000, but could be underestimated because of the mild symptoms of HNPP. In this study, we estimated the prevalence of PMP22 Del HNPP in a Korean newborn popul...

An intrachromosomal duplication containing the PMP22 gene is associated with the human hereditary peripheral neuropathy Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A, and PMP22 overexpression as a consequence of increased PMP22 gene dosage has been suggested as causative event in this frequent disorder of peripheral nerves. We have generated transgenic mice that carry additional copies of the pmp22 gene ...