Off-campus University of Richmond users: To download campus access theses, please use the following link to log in to our proxy server with your university username and password.

Date of Award

Spring 2007

Document Type

Restricted Thesis: Campus only access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Dr. John M. Warrick

Abstract

Machado-Joseph Disease (MJD), also known as Spinocerebellar Ataxia 3, is a member of the polyglutarnine family of diseases. As with other polyglutarnine diseases, MJD is characterized by an expansion of repeating glutarnine residues. In MJD, this occurs in the Ataxin 3 gene. MJD can be classified into several categories depending on severity and specific physical symptoms (Machado-Joseph Disease Fact Sheet). There is high disease prevalence in people from Portugal and the Azores (Sudarsky and Coutinho, 1995). Although a wide range of disease symptoms exists, the most common include a loss of eye control and difficulty walking (Sudarsky and Coutinho, 1995). Difficulty in swallowing may lead to pneumonia, which often proves fatal for MJD patients (Machado-Joseph Disease Fact Sheet).

Download

Share

COinS