The N-terminal domain of abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein (ASPM) is identified as a member of a novel family of ASH (ASPM, SPD-2, Hydin) domains. These domains are present in proteins associated with cilia, flagella, the centrosome and the Golgi complex, and in Hydin and OCRL whose deficiencies are associated with hydrocephalus and Lowe oculocerebrorenal syndrome, respectiv...

The ASPM and MCPH1 genes have been implicated in the adaptive evolution of the human brain [Mekel-Bobrov N. et al., 2005. Ongoing adaptive evolution of ASPM, a brain size determinant in homo sapiens. Science 309; Evans P.D. et al., 2005. Microcephalin, a gene regulating brain size, continues to evolve adaptively in humans. Science 309]. Curiously, experimental attempts have failed to connect th...

Primary Autosomal Recessive Microcephaly (MCPH) is characterized by congenital microcephaly usually without additional clinical findings. The most common gene implicated in MCPH is ASPM and a large percentage of mutations described have been homozygous and in consanguineous families primarily of East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. ASPM sequencing was performed on 400 patients between the year...

BACKGROUND Autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH) is a model disease to study human neurogenesis. In affected individuals the brain grows at a reduced rate during fetal life resulting in a small but structurally normal brain and mental retardation. The condition is genetically heterogeneous with mutations in ASPM being most commonly reported. METHODS AND RESULTS We have examined this...

We thank Wang et al for their interest in our article ‘Genome-wide analysis of the oxyntic proliferative isthmus zone reveals ASPM as a possible gastric stem/progenitor cell marker over-expressed in cancer’ [1]. In their letter to the editor, ‘Controversial role of the possible oxyntic stem cell marker ASPM in gastric cancer’, Wang et al raise questions about the role of ASPM as a possible nove...

Primary microcephaly (MCPH) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by global reduction in cerebral cortical volume. The microcephalic brain has a volume comparable to that of early hominids, raising the possibility that some MCPH genes may have been evolutionary targets in the expansion of the cerebral cortex in mammals and especially primates. Mutations in ASPM, which encodes the human...

Radial Glia (RG) cells constitute the major population of neural progenitors of the mouse developing brain. These cells are located in the ventricular zone (VZ) of the cerebral cortex and during neurogenesis they support the generation of cortical neurons. Later on, during brain maturation, RG cells give raise to glial cells and supply the adult mouse brain of Neural Stem Cells (NSC). Here we u...

Mekel-Bobrov et al. (Reports, 9 September 2005, p. 1720) suggested that ASPM, a gene associated with microcephaly, underwent natural selection within the last 500 to 14,100 years. Their analyses based on comparison with computer simulations indicated that ASPM had an unusual pattern of variation. However, when we compare ASPM empirically to a large number of other loci, its variation is not unu...

Genes encoding multiple IQ-motif proteins have been identified in the human genome and may be regulated by calmodulin (CaM). Three genes of unknown function, abnormal spindle-like primary microcephaly (ASPM), KIAA0036, and KIAA1023, were expressed strongly in nearly all transformed human cell lines and in a panel of 16 adult human tissues by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Howe...

Correct orientation of cell division is considered an important factor for the achievement of normal brain size, as mutations in genes that affect this process are among the leading causes of microcephaly. Abnormal spindle orientation is associated with reduction of the neuronal progenitor symmetric divisions, premature cell cycle exit, and reduced neurogenesis. This mechanism has been involved...