Autosomal dominant retinal vasculopathy with cerebral leukodystrophy is a microvascular endotheliopathy with middle-age onset. In nine families, we identified heterozygous C-terminal frameshift mutations in TREX1, which encodes a 3′-5′ exonuclease. These truncated proteins retain exonuclease activity but lose normal perinuclear localization. These data have implications for the maintenance of vascular integrity in the degenerative cerebral microangiopathies leading to stroke and dementias.

doi.org/10.1038/ng2082, hdl.handle.net/1765/36594
Nature Genetics
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Richards, A., Dichgans, M., Jen, J., Kavanagh, D., Bertram, P., Spitzer, D., … Atkinson, J. (2007). C-terminal truncations in human 3′-5′ DNA exonuclease TREX1 cause autosomal dominant retinal vasculopathy with cerebral leukodystrophy. Nature Genetics, 39(9), 1068–1070. doi:10.1038/ng2082