Background of the antigen
A mutation of the DYT1 gene, which codes for TorsinA, has been identified as the cause of one form of autosomal dominantly inherited dystonia. Early-onset torsion dystonia is a movement disorder, characterized by twisting muscle contractures, that begins in childhood. Symptoms are believed to result from altered neuronal communication in the basal ganglia. TorsinA comprises 332 amino acids. TorsinA is widely expressed throughout the mouse central nervous system and is detected in the majority of neurons in nearly all regions. The proteins display cytoplasmic distribution, although in some types of neurons localization is perinuclear. TorsinA often performs chaperone-like functions that assist in the assembly, operation, or dis-assembly of protein complexes. The gene which encodes TorsinA has high homology to three additional mammalian genes and a nematode gene and distal similarity to the family of heat-shock proteins and the Clp protease family. The gene which encodes TorsinA maps to human chromosome 9q34.
