Abnormal lysosomal and ubiquitin-proteasome pathways in 19p13.3 distal myopathy

We describe a second large Italian kindred with autosomal dominant vacuolar myopathy characterized by variable severity, adult-onset weakness of distal limb muscles, and no cardiac involvement. At least 19 individuals over four generations are affected. Histopathological and immunochemical features of the vacuoles, present in many fibers, indicate protein degradation abnormalities with dysregulation of the lysosomal pathway and activation of the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway. Linkage analysis localized the defect to the 19p13.3 locus in a region with no known genes. We speculate that the primary defect may be an abnormality in the lysosomal degradation pathway or related components.