Analysis of X-chromosome inactivation and presumptive expression of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) gene in hematopoietic cell lineages of a thrombocytopenic carrier female of WAS

Hum Genet. 1991 Dec;88(2):237-41. doi: 10.1007/BF00206081.

Abstract

We report on a thrombocytopenic female belonging to a pedigree with the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS). Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with probe M27 beta, closely linked to the WAS gene, demonstrated that she is a carrier of WAS. Both small-sized and normal-sized platelets were present, suggesting that, unlike the vast majority of WAS carriers, she does not manifest nonrandom X-chromosome inactivation in the thrombopoietic cell lineage. Study of X-chromosome inactivation by means of RFLP and methylation analysis demonstrated that the pattern of X-chromosome inactivation was nonrandom in T lymphocytes, but random in granulocytes. While this is the first complete report on the occurrence of thrombocytopenia in a carrier female of WAS as the result of atypical lyonization, it also suggests that expression of the WAS gene occurs at (or extends up to) a later stage than the multipotent stem cell along the hematopoietic differentiation pathway.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Dosage Compensation, Genetic*
  • Gene Expression / genetics
  • Granulocytes
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cells
  • Heterozygote
  • Humans
  • Pedigree
  • Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length*
  • T-Lymphocytes
  • Thrombocytopenia / genetics*
  • Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome / genetics*
  • X Chromosome*