Evidence map›Paper›PMID 9443873›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of human genetics1998

The GAA triplet-repeat expansion in Friedreich ataxia interferes with transcription and may be associated with an unusual DNA structure.

S I Bidichandani, T Ashizawa, P I Patel

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of human genetics, 1998. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 152 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
152citing papers in PubMed
5.8field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

152 citing papers in PubMed, 379 citations in OpenAlex.

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  11. TheBrain communications · 2025
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Skeletal Muscle Involvement in Friedreich Ataxia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Review
  15. AAGGG repeat expansions triggerScience advances · 2024
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Journal of medical genetics · 2023
    Article

92 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

S I BidichandaniDepartment of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
T Ashizawa
P I Patel
Baylor College of Medicine · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA), an autosomal recessive, neurodegenerative disease is the most common inherited ataxia. The vast majority of patients are homozygous for an abnormal expansion of a polymorphic GAA triplet repeat in the first intron of the X25 gene, which encodes a mitochondrial protein, frataxin. Cellular degeneration in FRDA may be caused by mitochondrial dysfunction, possibly due to abnormal iron accumulation, as observed in yeast cells deficient for a frataxin homologue. Using RNase protection assays, we have shown that patients homozygous for the expansion have a marked deficiency of mature X25 mRNA. The mechanism(s) by which the intronic GAA triplet expansion results in this reduction of X25 mRNA is presently unknown. No evidence was found for abnormal splicing of the expanded intron 1. Using cloned repeat sequences from FRDA patients, we show that the GAA repeat per se interferes with in vitro transcription in a length-dependent manner, with both prokaryotic and eukaryotic enzymes. This interference was most pronounced in the physiological orientation of transcription, when synthesis of the GAA-rich transcript was attempted. These results are consistent with the observed negative correlation between triplet-repeat length and the age at onset of disease. Using in vitro chemical probing strategies, we also show that the GAA triplet repeat adopts an unusual DNA structure, demonstrated by hyperreactivity to osmium tetroxide, hydroxylamine, and diethyl pyrocarbonate. These results raise the possibility that the GAA triplet-repeat expansion may result in an unusual yet stable DNA structure that interferes with transcription, ultimately leading to a cellular deficiency of frataxin.

Indexed as

Iron-Binding ProteinsRepetitive Sequences, Nucleic AcidAntisense Elements (Genetics)Cloning, MolecularDNAFrataxinFriedreich AtaxiaHumansIntronsPhosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor)RNA, MessengerTranscription, GeneticAntisense Elements (Genetics)DNAFrataxinIron-Binding ProteinsPhosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor)RNA, Messenger

Identifiers

PMID9443873
PMCPMC1376805
OpenAlexW2076790103

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.