Book Description

Cerebral small vessel diseases (cSVD) are a heterogeneous group of disorders affecting small arteries, arterioles, veins, and/or capillaries of the brain. In most cases cSVD are sporadic, but several hereditary monogenic forms have been identified. Nevertheless, only 15% of familial cSVD patients sent for genetic screening are carriers of mutations in one of these genes, suggesting the implication of other genes. In this thesis work, we showed that heterozygous mutations in HTRA1 are found in 5% of familial cSVD cases. Functional analysis of these mutations showed that most of them behave as loss-of-function mutations. Disease onset was much later (>25 years) than in CARASIL patients, in which both2 HTRA1 alleles are mutated. Afterwards, we identified 2 informative families (including the original family reported to be affected by PADMAL / Pontine Autosomal Dominant Microangiopathy and Leukoencephalopathy) harboring two different mutations in the binding site of miR-29 microRNA within the 3'UTR of COL4A1 gene. Four other index patients carrying the same type of mutations were identified in our patient cohort. Functional analysis of these mutations showed an up-regulation of COL4A1 gene expression. The observed phenotype was highly stereotyped in all patients, characterized by pontine infarcts appearing in the 3rd decade. Identification of the molecular defects underlying these two novel hereditary cSVD forms provides tools to improve the molecular diagnosis of cSVD. Besides, it reinforces the hypothesis of an essential role of matrisome alteration in cSVD pathophysiological mechanisms.