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Updated: May 23, 2026

A Non-random Mouse Model for Pharmacological Reactivation of Mecp2 on the Inactive X Chromosome
Published on: May 22, 2019
X inactivation in females with X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Sinéad M Murphy1, Richard Ovens, James Polke
1MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and Department of Molecular Neuroscience, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK. sinead.murphy@amnch.ie
Abstract:
X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT1X) is the second most common inherited neuropathy, caused by mutations in gap junction beta-1 (GJB1). Males have a uniformly moderately severe phenotype while females have a variable phenotype, suggested to be due to X inactivation. We aimed to assess X inactivation pattern in females with CMT1X and correlate this with phenotype using the CMT examination score to determine whether the X inactivation pattern accounted for the variable phenotype in females with CMT1X. We determined X inactivation pattern in 67 females with CMT1X and 24 controls using the androgen receptor assay. We were able to determine which X chromosome carried the GJB1 mutation in 30 females. There was no difference in X inactivation pattern between patients and controls. In addition, there was no correlation between X inactivation pattern in blood and phenotype. A possible explanation for these findings is that the X inactivation pattern in Schwann cells rather than in blood may explain the variable phenotype in females with CMT1X.
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