[Recent advances in molecular genetics of spinocerebellar ataxia type 3/Machado-Joseph disease]

To date, nearly 28 distinct genetic loci of autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias have been identified, among them 18 disease-causing genes have been cloned. Of these, Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), also named as spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), is perhaps the most common subtype among different races and origins in the world. It is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the expansion of a CAG repeat in the coding region of the MJD1 gene, with obvious clinical and genetic heterogeneity. In this review, authors covered the recent advances in molecular genetic of SCA3/MJD.