Dravet syndrome is a severe form of intractable pediatric epilepsy with a high incidence of SUDEP: Sudden Unexpected Death in epilepsy. Cardiac arrhythmias are a proposed cause for some cases of ...SUDEP, yet the susceptibility and potential mechanism of arrhythmogenesis in Dravet syndrome remain unknown. The majority of Dravet syndrome patients have de novo mutations in SCN1A, resulting in haploinsufficiency. We propose that, in addition to neuronal hyperexcitability, SCN1A haploinsufficiency alters cardiac electrical function and produces arrhythmias, providing a potential mechanism for SUDEP.
Postnatal day 15-21 heterozygous SCN1A-R1407X knock-in mice, expressing a human Dravet syndrome mutation, were used to investigate a possible cardiac phenotype. A combination of single cell electrophysiology and in vivo electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings were performed.
We observed a 2-fold increase in both transient and persistent Na(+) current density in isolated Dravet syndrome ventricular myocytes that resulted from increased activity of a tetrodotoxin-resistant Na(+) current, likely Nav1.5. Dravet syndrome myocytes exhibited increased excitability, action potential duration prolongation, and triggered activity. Continuous radiotelemetric ECG recordings showed QT prolongation, ventricular ectopic foci, idioventricular rhythms, beat-to-beat variability, ventricular fibrillation, and focal bradycardia. Spontaneous deaths were recorded in 2 DS mice, and a third became moribund and required euthanasia.
These data from single cell and whole animal experiments suggest that altered cardiac electrical function in Dravet syndrome may contribute to the susceptibility for arrhythmogenesis and SUDEP. These mechanistic insights may lead to critical risk assessment and intervention in human patients.
Phagocytosis of large extracellular particles such as apoptotic bodies requires delivery of the intracellular endosomal and lysosomal membranes to form plasmalemmal pseudopods. Here, we identified ...mucolipin TRP channel 1 (TRPML1) as the key lysosomal Ca2+ channel regulating focal exocytosis and phagosome biogenesis. Both particle ingestion and lysosomal exocytosis are inhibited by synthetic TRPML1 blockers and are defective in macrophages isolated from TRPML1 knockout mice. Furthermore, TRPML1 overexpression and TRPML1 agonists facilitate both lysosomal exocytosis and particle uptake. Using time-lapse confocal imaging and direct patch clamping of phagosomal membranes, we found that particle binding induces lysosomal PI(3,5)P2 elevation to trigger TRPML1-mediated lysosomal Ca2+ release specifically at the site of uptake, rapidly delivering TRPML1-resident lysosomal membranes to nascent phagosomes via lysosomal exocytosis. Thus phagocytic ingestion of large particles activates a phosphoinositide- and Ca2+-dependent exocytosis pathway to provide membranes necessary for pseudopod extension, leading to clearance of senescent and apoptotic cells in vivo.
Display omitted
•Phagocytic uptake of apoptotic bodies is defective in TRPML1 knockout macrophages•Large particle binding induces lysosomal PI(3,5)P2 elevation in macrophages•Particle binding activates TRPML1, lysosomal Ca2+ release, and focal exocytosis•Focal exocytosis provides intracellular membranes for phagosome biogenesis
Phagocytosis of large extracellular particles such as apoptotic bodies requires delivery of the intracellular endosomal and lysosomal membranes to form plasmalemmal pseudopods. In this study, Samie et al. identified TRPML1 as the key lysosomal Ca2+ channel regulating focal lysosomal exocytosis, providing the membranes necessary for pseudopod extension and phagosome biogenesis.
Objective
SCN8A encephalopathy is a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) caused by de novo gain‐of‐function mutations of sodium channel Nav1.6 that result in neuronal hyperactivity. ...Affected individuals exhibit early onset drug‐resistant seizures, developmental delay, and cognitive impairment. This study was carried out to determine whether reducing the abundance of the Scn8a transcript with an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) would delay seizure onset and prolong survival in a mouse model of SCN8A encephalopathy.
Methods
ASO treatment was tested in a conditional mouse model with Cre‐dependent expression of the pathogenic patient SCN8A mutation p.Arg1872Trp (R1872W). This model exhibits early onset of seizures, rapid progression, and 100% penetrance. An Scn1a
+/− haploinsufficient mouse model of Dravet syndrome was also treated. ASO was administered by intracerebroventricular injection at postnatal day 2, followed in some cases by stereotactic injection at postnatal day 30.
Results
We observed a dose‐dependent increase in length of survival from 15 to 65 days in the Scn8a‐R1872W/+ mice treated with ASO. Electroencephalographic recordings were normal prior to seizure onset. Weight gain and activity in an open field were unaffected, but treated mice were less active in a wheel running assay. A single treatment with Scn8a ASO extended survival of Dravet syndrome mice from 3 weeks to >5 months.
Interpretation
Reduction of Scn8a transcript by 25 to 50% delayed seizure onset and lethality in mouse models of SCN8A encephalopathy and Dravet syndrome. Reduction of SCN8A transcript is a promising approach to treatment of intractable childhood epilepsies. Ann Neurol 2020;87:339–346
Mutations affecting the conversion of PI3P to the signaling lipid PI(3,5)P2 result in spongiform degeneration of mouse brain and are associated with the human disorders Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease ...and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We now report accumulation of the proteins LC3-II, p62 and LAMP-2 in neurons and astrocytes of mice with mutations in two components of the PI(3,5)P2 regulatory complex, Fig4 and Vac14. Cytoplasmic inclusion bodies containing p62 and ubiquinated proteins are present in regions of the mutant brain that undergo degeneration. Co-localization of p62 and LAMP-2 in affected cells indicates that formation or recycling of the autolysosome is impaired. These results establish a role for PI(3,5)P2 in autophagy in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) and demonstrate that mutations affecting PI(3,5)P2 can contribute to inclusion body disease.
Mutations that cause defects in levels of the signaling lipid phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate PI(3,5)P ₂ lead to profound neurodegeneration in mice. Moreover, mutations in human FIG4 predicted ...to lower PI(3,5)P ₂ levels underlie Charcot–Marie–Tooth type 4J neuropathy and are present in selected cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In yeast and mammals, PI(3,5)P ₂ is generated by a protein complex that includes the lipid kinase Fab1/Pikfyve, the scaffolding protein Vac14, and the lipid phosphatase Fig4. Fibroblasts cultured from Vac14 ⁻/⁻ and Fig4 ⁻/⁻ mouse mutants have a 50% reduction in the levels of PI(3,5)P ₂, suggesting that there may be PIKfyve-independent pathways that generate this lipid. Here, we characterize a Pikfyve gene-trap mouse (Pikfyve ᵝ⁻ᵍᵉᵒ/ᵝ⁻ᵍᵉᵒ), a hypomorph with ∼10% of the normal level of Pikfyve protein. shRNA silencing of the residual Pikfyve transcript in fibroblasts demonstrated that Pikfyve is required to generate all of the PI(3,5)P ₂ pool. Surprisingly, Pikfyve also is responsible for nearly all of the phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate (PI5P) pool. We show that PI5P is generated directly from PI(3,5)P ₂, likely via 3′-phosphatase activity. Analysis of tissues from the Pikfyve ᵝ⁻ᵍᵉᵒ/ᵝ⁻ᵍᵉᵒ mouse mutants reveals that Pikfyve is critical in neural tissues, heart, lung, kidney, thymus, and spleen. Thus, PI(3,5)P ₂ and PI5P have major roles in multiple organs. Understanding the regulation of these lipids may provide insights into therapies for multiple diseases.
CMT4J is a severe form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy caused by mutation of the phosphoinositide phosphatase FIG4/SAC3. Affected individuals are compound heterozygotes carrying the missense allele ...FIG4-I41T in combination with a null allele. Analysis using the yeast two-hybrid system demonstrated that the I41T mutation impairs interaction of FIG4 with the scaffold protein VAC14. The critical role of this interaction was confirmed by the demonstration of loss of FIG4 protein in VAC14 null mice. We developed a mouse model of CMT4J by expressing a Fig4-I41T cDNA transgene on the Fig4 null background. Expression of the mutant transcript at a level 5 × higher than endogenous Fig4 completely rescued lethality, whereas 2 × expression gave only partial rescue, providing a model of the human disease. The level of FIG4-I41T protein in transgenic tissues is only 2% of that predicted by the transcript level, as a consequence of the protein instability caused by impaired interaction of the mutant protein with VAC14. Analysis of patient fibroblasts demonstrated a comparably low level of mutant I41T protein. The abundance of FIG4-I41T protein in cultured cells is increased by treatment with the proteasome inhibitor MG-132. The data demonstrate that FIG4-I41T is a hypomorphic allele encoding a protein that is unstable in vivo. Expression of FIG4-I41T protein at 10% of normal level is sufficient for long-term survival, suggesting that patients with CMT4J could be treated by increased production or stabilization of the mutant protein. The transgenic model will be useful for testing in vivo interventions to increase the abundance of the mutant protein.
Abdominal aortic aneurysms are a common disorder with an incompletely understood etiology. We used Illumina and Affymetrix microarray platforms to generate global gene expression profiles for both ...aneurysmal (AAA) and non-aneurysmal abdominal aorta, and identified genes that were significantly differentially expressed between cases and controls.
Affymetrix and Illumina arrays included 18,057 genes in common; 11,542 (64%) of these genes were considered to be expressed in either aneurysmal or normal abdominal aorta. There were 3,274 differentially expressed genes with a false discovery rate (FDR) </= 0.05. Many of these genes were not previously known to be involved in AAA, including SOST and RUNX3, which were confirmed using Q-RT-PCR (Pearson correlation coefficient for microarray and Q-RT-PCR data = 0.89; p-values for differences in expression between AAA and controls for SOST: 4.87 x 10-4 and for RUNX3: 4.33 x 10-5). Analysis of biological pathways, including Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), indicated extreme overrepresentation of immune related categories. The enriched categories included the GO category Immune Response (GO:0006955; FDR = 2.1 x 10-14), and the KEGG pathways natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity (hsa04650; FDR = 5.9 x 10-6) and leukocyte transendothelial migration (hsa04670; FDR = 1.1 x 10-5).
Previous studies have provided evidence for the involvement of the immune system in AAA. The current expression analysis extends these findings by demonstrating broad coordinate gene expression in immunological pathways. A large number of genes involved in immune function were differentially expressed in AAA, and the pathway analysis gave these results a biological context. The data provide valuable insight for future studies to dissect the pathogenesis of human AAA. These pathways might also be used as targets for the development of therapeutic agents for AAA.
Yunis-Varón syndrome (YVS) is an autosomal-recessive disorder with cleidocranial dysplasia, digital anomalies, and severe neurological involvement. Enlarged vacuoles are found in neurons, muscle, and ...cartilage. By whole-exome sequencing, we identified frameshift and missense mutations of FIG4 in affected individuals from three unrelated families. FIG4 encodes a phosphoinositide phosphatase required for regulation of PI(3,5)P2 levels, and thus endosomal trafficking and autophagy. In a functional assay, both missense substitutions failed to correct the vacuolar phenotype of Fig4-null mouse fibroblasts. Homozygous Fig4-null mice exhibit features of YVS, including neurodegeneration and enlarged vacuoles in neurons. We demonstrate that Fig4-null mice also have small skeletons with reduced trabecular bone volume and cortical thickness and that cultured osteoblasts accumulate large vacuoles. Our findings demonstrate that homozygosity or compound heterozygosity for null mutations of FIG4 is responsible for YVS, the most severe known human phenotype caused by defective phosphoinositide metabolism. In contrast, in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 4J (also caused by FIG4 mutations), one of the FIG4 alleles is hypomorphic and disease is limited to the peripheral nervous system. This genotype-phenotype correlation demonstrates that absence of FIG4 activity leads to central nervous system dysfunction and extensive skeletal anomalies. Our results describe a role for PI(3,5)P2 signaling in skeletal development and maintenance.
Defective biosynthesis of the phospholipid PI(3,5)P
underlies neurological disorders characterized by cytoplasmic accumulation of large lysosome-derived vacuoles. To identify novel genetic causes of ...lysosomal vacuolization, we developed an assay for enlargement of the lysosome compartment that is amenable to cell sorting and pooled screens. We first demonstrated that the enlarged vacuoles that accumulate in fibroblasts lacking FIG4, a PI(3,5)P
biosynthetic factor, have a hyperacidic pH compared to normal cells'. We then carried out a genome-wide knockout screen in human HAP1 cells for accumulation of acidic vesicles by FACS sorting. A pilot screen captured fifteen genes, including VAC14, a previously identified cause of endolysosomal vacuolization. Three genes not previously associated with lysosome dysfunction were selected to validate the screen: C10orf35, LRRC8A, and MARCH7. We analyzed two clonal knockout cell lines for each gene. All of the knockout lines contained enlarged acidic vesicles that were positive for LAMP2, confirming their endolysosomal origin. This assay will be useful in the future for functional evaluation of patient variants in these genes, and for a more extensive genome-wide screen for genes required for endolysosome function. This approach may also be adapted for drug screens to identify small molecules that rescue endolysosomal vacuolization.
PDF
