In humans, there are hundreds of genes located on the X chromosome that have no counterpart on the Y chromosome. The traits governed by these genes thus show sex-linked inheritance. This type of inheritance has certain unique characteristics, which include the following: (1) There is no male-to-male (father-to-son) transmission, since sons will, by definition, inherit the Y rather than the X chromosome. (2) The carrier female (heterozygote) has a 50 percent chance of passing the mutant gene to each of her children; sons who inherit the mutant gene will be hemizygotes and will manifest the trait, while daughters who receive the mutant gene will be unaffected carriers. (3) Males with the trait will pass the gene on to all of their daughters, who will be carriers. (4) Most sex-linked traits are recessively inherited, so that heterozygous females generally do not display the trait. The table lists some sex-linked conditions. The figure shows a pedigree of a family in which a mutant gene for hemophilia A, a sex-linked recessive disease, is segregating. Hemophilia A gained notoriety in early studies of human genetics because it affected at least 10 males among the descendants of Queen Victoria, who was a carrier.

Hemophilia A, the most widespread form of hemophilia, results from a mutation in the gene encoding clotting factor VIII. Because of this mutation, affected males cannot produce functional factor VIII, so that their blood fails to clot properly, leading to significant and potentially life-threatening loss of blood after even minor injuries. Bleeding into joints commonly occurs as well and may be crippling. Therapy consists of avoiding trauma and of administering injections of purified factor VIII, which was once isolated from outdated human blood donations but can now be made in large amounts through recombinant DNA technology.

Although heterozygous female carriers of X-linked recessive mutations generally do not exhibit traits characteristic of the disorder, cases of mild or partial phenotypic expression in female carriers have been reported, resulting from nonrandom X inactivation.

Triplet repeat expansions

At least a dozen different disorders are now known to result from triplet repeat expansions in the human genome, and these fall into two groups: (1) those that involve a polyglutamine tract within the encoded protein product that becomes longer upon expansion of a triplet repeat, an example of which is Huntington disease, and (2) those that have unstable triplet repeats in noncoding portions of the gene that, upon expansion, interfere with appropriate expression of the gene product, an example of which is fragile-X syndrome (see photograph). Both groups of disorders exhibit a distinctive pattern of non-Mendelian inheritance termed anticipation, in which, following the initial appearance of the disorder in a given family, subsequent generations tend to show both increasing frequency and increasing severity of the disorder. This phenotypic anticipation is paralleled by increases in the relevant repeat length as it is passed from one generation to the next, with increasing size leading to increasing instability, until a “full expansion” mutation is achieved, generally several generations following the initial appearance of the disorder in the family. The full expansion mutation is then passed to subsequent generations in a standard Mendelian fashion—for example, autosomal dominant for Huntington disease and sex-linked for fragile-X syndrome.

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human disease: Diseases of genetic origin

Mitochondrial DNA mutations

Disorders resulting from mutations in the mitochondrial genome demonstrate an alternative form of non-Mendelian inheritance, termed maternal inheritance, in which the mutation and disorder are passed from mothers—never from fathers—to all of their children. The mutations generally affect the function of the mitochondrion, compromising, among other processes, the production of cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Severity and even penetrance can vary widely for disorders resulting from mutations in the mitochondrial DNA, generally believed to reflect the combined effects of heteroplasmy (i.e., mixed populations of both normal and mutant mitochondrial DNA in a single cell) and other confounding genetic or environmental factors. There are close to 50 mitochondrial genetic diseases currently known.

Imprinted gene mutations

Some genetic disorders are now known to result from mutations in imprinted genes. Genetic imprinting involves a sex-specific process of chemical modification to the imprinted genes, so that they are expressed unequally, depending on the sex of the parent of origin. So-called maternally imprinted genes are generally expressed only when inherited from the father, and so-called paternally imprinted genes are generally expressed only when inherited from the mother. The disease gene associated with Prader-Willi syndrome is maternally imprinted, so that although every child inherits two copies of the gene (one maternal, one paternal), only the paternal copy is expressed. If the paternally inherited copy carries a mutation, the child will be left with no functional copies of the gene expressed, and the clinical traits of Prader-Willi syndrome will result. Similarly, the disease gene associated with Angelman syndrome is paternally imprinted, so that although every child inherits two copies of the gene, only the maternal copy is expressed. If the maternally inherited copy carries a mutation, the child again will be left with no functional copies of the gene expressed, and the clinical traits of Angelman syndrome will result. Individuals who carry the mutation but received it from the “wrong” parent can certainly pass it on to their children, although they will not exhibit clinical features of the disorder.

Upon rare occasion, persons are identified with an imprinted gene disorder who show no family history and do not appear to carry any mutation in the expected gene. These cases are now known to result from uniparental disomy, a phenomenon whereby a child is conceived who carries the normal complement of chromosomes but who has inherited both copies of a given chromosome from the same parent, rather than one from each parent, as is the normal fashion. If any key genes on that chromosome are imprinted in the parent of origin, the child may end up with no expressed copies, and a genetic disorder may result. Similarly, other genes may be overexpressed in cases of uniparental disomy, perhaps also leading to clinical complications. Finally, uniparental disomy can account for very rare instances whereby two parents, only one of whom is a carrier of an autosomal recessive mutation, can nonetheless have an affected child, in the circumstance that the child inherits two mutant copies from the carrier parent.