Rapid detection of the sacsin mutations causing autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay

Autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS; MIM SACS 270550) is frequent in northeastern Quebec. Two causal mutations have been identified in the 11.7-kb single exon sacsin gene by sequence-based analyses. Mutation g.6594delT (DeltaT) was reported in 96% of the patients whereas a g.5254C --> T nonsense mutation has been observed only in 2 families. Here we report a reliable and inexpensive method to detect more than 95% of the ARSACS disease alleles from northeastern Quebec using allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) hybridization. This procedure is being incorporated into the diagnosis of ARSACS, as well as being used for carrier detection in at-risk families from northeastern Quebec.