Researchers ID Gene for Neck Disorder

FRIDAY, March 9 (HealthDay News) — The first gene linked to an often painful neck disorder has been identified by researchers.

Adult-onset primary cervical dystonia, which is characterized by involuntary twisting of the neck, occurs in about 30 of every 100,000 people, previous research has reported.

In this new study, researchers conducted a genetic analysis of a patient with the condition, his identical twin whose neck also twisted and family members, some of whom also had the disorder. The investigators pinpointed a mutation in the CIZ1 gene, which produces a protein expressed in certain nerve cells in the brain and appears to be involved in cell cycle activities.

However, the researchers did not identify the cellular mechanism associated with cervical dystonia.

The study findings were released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the Annals of Neurology.

While the researchers believe that CIZ1 is one genetic cause of the disorder, it’s likely that other genes linked to cervical dystonia will be found, according to Dr. Ryan Uitti, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

There are a number of treatments for cervical dystonia. The most common is botulinum toxin injections, which incapacitate the nerve in the affected muscle and eliminate chronic pain and muscle pulling/contraction.

But some people with the condition don’t realize that it is unusual and that they should seek medical help, Uitti noted.

“They think they slept wrong at some point, or, because the twisting might straighten out with another maneuver, such as walking backwards, they might actually [not be taken seriously],” Uitti said in a Mayo Clinic news release.

More information

We Move has more about cervical dystonia.

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Order from disorder

Collective motion emerges spontaneously in wiggling protein strandsWeb edition : Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 Protein filaments organized themselves into vortices after being injected with a molecule called ATP. The finding suggests that collective motion might naturally emerge in more biological systems than thought.Y. Sumino et al/Nature 2012

Birds and bees do it, and now so do tiny protein strands — spontaneously moving together in the striking patterns known as collective motion.

Japanese researchers attached filaments of protein to a second protein that acts as a biological motor, rotating and driving the filaments to move. The scientists then injected ATP, a molecule that sends energy flowing within a cell; at first, the filaments meandered aimlessly around. But after about a quarter of an hour, they organized themselves into dramatic vortices nearly big enough to be seen by the naked eye.

Computer simulations showed how collisions between the strands helped shape their collective swarming, Kazuhiro Oiwa of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Kobe, Japan, and colleagues report in the March 22 Nature.

Vortices appear all over the flowing surface, Oiwa says. The work suggests that collective motion might naturally emerge in more biological systems than scientists had thought.

Found in: Matter & Energy

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