[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Hereditas(Beijing) ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (10): 899-912.doi: 10.16288/j.yczz.22-188

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Advances in genetic mechanisms of hypothalamic dysfunction in Prader-Willi syndrome

Xinyuan Wang(), Rui Sun, Yuanqing Gao()   

  1. Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211166, China
  • Received:2022-06-30 Revised:2022-07-28 Online:2022-10-20 Published:2022-08-11
  • Contact: Gao Yuanqing E-mail:darlingxyxy@163.com;yuanqinggao@njmu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    the National Natural Science Foundation of China(81873654)

Abstract:

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare congenital developmental disorder mainly due to the absent expression of genes on the paternally inherited chromosome 15q11-q13 region. Most of the clinical symptoms of PWS are related to hypothalamic dysfunction, including hyperphagia, morbid obesity, mental retardation, and hypogonadism. However, the molecular genetic mechanism of PWS is not fully understood, especially the relationship between genotype and phenotype. In this review, we focus on the genetic mechanisms behind the hypothalamus dysfunction, summarizing the latest research progress of the roles of PWS candidate genes in chromosome 15q11-q13 region (NIPA1, NIPA2, TUBGCP5, CYFIP1, MAGEL2, NDN, MKRN3 and SNORD116) in hypothalamic disorders such as hyperphagia and obesity, hypogonadism, sleep-disordered breathing, growth retardation in PWS patients, to deepen the understanding of PWS syndrome and explore potential new drug targets.

Key words: Prader-Willi syndrome, hypothalamus, genetic mechanism