( y patients with Alagille syndrome. ...)Gene discovery may shed light on kidney disease

"Ligands and receptors are like keys and locks," said Dr. Spinner. "If either one is defective, it may interfere with normal growth and development."

Dr. Spinner's team previously determined that 94 percent of patients diagnosed with Alagille syndrome had mutations in the JAG1 gene. In the current study, they analyzed 11 patients with Alagille syndrome who did not have the JAG1 mutation, and found that two of them had mutations in NOTCH2. Furthermore, the patients had three family members, all mildly affected, who also had the same mutation. All five individuals had kidney disease.

Because their study identified only two families with NOTCH2 mutations, said Dr. Spinner, it is not definitive in establishing that those mutations cause a distinct variety of Alagille syndrome. However, it is the first study to report that mutations in the NOTCH2 gene cause human disease. Dr. Spinner is planning further studies to better characterize the role of NOTCH2 mutations and the Notch signaling pathway in the wider population of patients with kidney disorders.

She also will investigate liver involvement in Alagille syndrome under the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, recently established by the National Institutes of Health. "Part of the rationale for this research network is that, collectively, relatively rare diseases added together constitute a significant portion of the population," said David A. Piccoli, M.D., chief of Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Children's Hospital and a co-author of the study. "Another rationale is that studying relatively rare diseases may offer insights into more common diseases and into health in general."