Lafora Disease: A Review of Molecular Mechanisms and Pathology
- PMID: 30336494
- PMCID: PMC6748624
- DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1675238
Lafora Disease: A Review of Molecular Mechanisms and Pathology
Abstract
Lafora's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by recessive loss-of-function mutations in the EPM2A (laforin glycogen phosphatase) or EPM2B (malin E3 ubiquitin ligase) genes. Neuropathology is characterized by malformed precipitated glycogen aggregates termed Lafora bodies. Asymptomatic until adolescence, patients undergo first insidious then rapid progressive myoclonus epilepsy toward a vegetative state and death within a decade. Laforin and malin interact to regulate glycogen phosphorylation and chain length pattern, the latter critical to glycogen's solubility. Significant gaps remain in precise mechanistic understanding. However, demonstration that partial reduction in brain glycogen synthesis near-completely prevents the disease in its genetic animal models opens a direct present path to therapy.
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
Conflict of interest statement
Dr. Minassian reports grants from National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the conduct of the study; In addition, Dr. Minassian has a licensed Lafora's disease genes patent.
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