[From gene to disease; the dystrophin gene involved in Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy].

Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD and BMD) are progressive disorders, which almost exclusively affect males. DMD is the more severe type with an onset at 2-3 years of age. Patients become wheelchair-bound before the age of 13 and often die due to cardiac arrest or respiratory insufficiency. BMD, a more varying phenotype which may overlap with limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), has a less severe muscle weakness which starts later than in DMD patients. DMD carriers may show some muscle weakness. The dystrophin gene (2.4 Mb), known to be involved in DMD/BMD, codes for a 427 kilodalton muscle-specific protein named dystrophin as well as several tissue-specific isoforms. Dystrophin, as part of a membrane-bound complex of proteins, connects the cytoskeleton of the muscle cell to the extracellular matrix. Since 1985, when highly reliable carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis at the DNA level became possible, over 250 prenatal tests have been performed. Molecular genetic analysis, highlighted a phenomenon called germinal mosaicism, which explains the recurrence of de novo mutations and led to the discovery of the so-called reading-frame rule, which helps to discriminate between DMD and BMD. Fifteen years after the discovery of the dystrophin gene, mutations can be detected in 95% of the patients, while the remaining 5% are still hiding within this very large gene.