@article {573, title = {Biallelic VARS variants cause developmental encephalopathy with microcephaly that is recapitulated in vars knockout zebrafish.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {10}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 02 12}, pages = {708}, abstract = {

Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases (ARSs) link specific amino acids with their cognate transfer RNAs in a critical early step of protein translation. Mutations in ARSs have emerged as a cause of recessive, often complex neurological disease traits. Here we report an allelic series consisting of seven novel and two previously reported biallelic variants in valyl-tRNA synthetase (VARS) in ten patients with a developmental encephalopathy with microcephaly, often associated with early-onset epilepsy. In silico, in vitro, and yeast complementation assays demonstrate that the underlying pathomechanism of these mutations is most likely a loss of protein function. Zebrafish modeling accurately recapitulated some of the key neurological disease traits. These results provide both genetic and biological insights into neurodevelopmental disease and pave the way for further in-depth research on ARS related recessive disorders and precision therapies.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Animals, Brain Diseases, Cell Line, Disease Models, Animal, Epilepsy, Female, Fibroblasts, Gene Knockout Techniques, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Loss of Function Mutation, Male, Microcephaly, Models, Molecular, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Pedigree, Prosencephalon, Valine-tRNA Ligase, Zebrafish}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-07953-w}, author = {Siekierska, Aleksandra and Stamberger, Hannah and Deconinck, Tine and Oprescu, Stephanie N and Partoens, Mich{\`e}le and Zhang, Yifan and Sourbron, Jo and Adriaenssens, Elias and Mullen, Patrick and Wiencek, Patrick and Hardies, Katia and Lee, Jeong-Soo and Giong, Hoi-Khoanh and Distelmaier, Felix and Elpeleg, Orly and Helbig, Katherine L and Hersh, Joseph and Isikay, Sedat and Jordan, Elizabeth and Karaca, Ender and Kecskes, Angela and Lupski, James R and Kovacs-Nagy, Reka and May, Patrick and Narayanan, Vinodh and Pendziwiat, Manuela and Ramsey, Keri and Rangasamy, Sampathkumar and Shinde, Deepali N and Spiegel, Ronen and Timmerman, Vincent and von Spiczak, Sarah and Helbig, Ingo and Weckhuysen, Sarah and Francklyn, Christopher and Antonellis, Anthony and de Witte, Peter and De Jonghe, Peter} } @article {337, title = {Loss of Nardilysin, a Mitochondrial Co-chaperone for α-Ketoglutarate Dehydrogenase, Promotes mTORC1 Activation and Neurodegeneration.}, journal = {Neuron}, volume = {93}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Jan 04}, pages = {115-131}, abstract = {

We previously identified mutations in Nardilysin (dNrd1) in a forward genetic screen designed to isolate genes whose loss causes neurodegeneration in Drosophila photoreceptor neurons. Here~we show that NRD1 is localized to mitochondria, where it recruits mitochondrial chaperones and assists in the folding of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (OGDH), a rate-limiting enzyme in~the Krebs cycle. Loss of Nrd1 or Ogdh leads to an increase in α-ketoglutarate, a substrate for OGDH,~which in turn leads to mTORC1 activation and a subsequent reduction in autophagy. Inhibition of mTOR activity by rapamycin or partially restoring autophagy delays neurodegeneration in dNrd1 mutant flies. In summary, this study reveals a novel role for NRD1 as a mitochondrial co-chaperone for OGDH and provides a mechanistic link between mitochondrial metabolic dysfunction, mTORC1 signaling, and impaired autophagy in neurodegeneration.

}, keywords = {Animals, Autophagy, Drosophila, Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila Proteins, Ketoglutarate Dehydrogenase Complex, Ketoglutaric Acids, Lysine, Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1, Metalloendopeptidases, Mitochondria, Molecular Chaperones, Multiprotein Complexes, Neurodegenerative Diseases, TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases}, issn = {1097-4199}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2016.11.038}, author = {Yoon, Wan Hee and Sandoval, Hector and Nagarkar-Jaiswal, Sonal and Jaiswal, Manish and Yamamoto, Shinya and Haelterman, Nele A and Putluri, Nagireddy and Putluri, Vasanta and Sreekumar, Arun and Tos, Tulay and Aksoy, Ayse and Donti, Taraka and Graham, Brett H and Ohno, Mikiko and Nishi, Eiichiro and Hunter, Jill and Muzny, Donna M and Carmichael, Jason and Shen, Joseph and Arboleda, Valerie A and Nelson, Stanley F and Wangler, Michael F and Karaca, Ender and Lupski, James R and Bellen, Hugo J} } @article {135, title = {Exome Sequence Analysis Suggests that Genetic Burden Contributes to Phenotypic Variability and Complex Neuropathy.}, journal = {Cell Rep}, volume = {12}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Aug 18}, pages = {1169-83}, abstract = {

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous distal symmetric polyneuropathy. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) of 40 individuals from 37 unrelated families with CMT-like peripheral neuropathy refractory to molecular diagnosis identified apparent causal mutations in \~{} 45\% (17/37) of families. Three candidate disease genes are proposed, supported by a combination of genetic and in vivo studies. Aggregate analysis of mutation data revealed a significantly increased number of rare variants across 58 neuropathy-associated genes in subjects versus controls, confirmed in a second ethnically discrete neuropathy cohort, suggesting that mutation burden potentially contributes to phenotypic variability. Neuropathy genes shown to have highly penetrant Mendelizing variants (HPMVs) and implicated by burden in families were shown to interact genetically in a zebrafish assay exacerbating the phenotype established by the suppression of single genes. Our findings suggest that the combinatorial effect of rare variants contributes to disease burden and variable expressivity.

}, keywords = {Animals, Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, Exome, Female, Genetic Load, Genetic Variation, HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins, Humans, Male, Mutation, Myelin P2 Protein, Pedigree, Penetrance, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases, Phenotype, Serine C-Palmitoyltransferase, Suppression, Genetic, Zebrafish}, issn = {2211-1247}, doi = {10.1016/j.celrep.2015.07.023}, author = {Gonzaga-Jauregui, Claudia and Harel, Tamar and Gambin, Tomasz and Kousi, Maria and Griffin, Laurie B and Francescatto, Ludmila and Ozes, Burcak and Karaca, Ender and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Bainbridge, Matthew N and Lawson, Kim S and Pehlivan, Davut and Okamoto, Yuji and Withers, Marjorie and Mancias, Pedro and Slavotinek, Anne and Reitnauer, Pamela J and Goksungur, Meryem T and Shy, Michael and Crawford, Thomas O and Koenig, Michel and Willer, Jason and Flores, Brittany N and Pediaditrakis, Igor and Us, Onder and Wiszniewski, Wojciech and Parman, Yesim and Antonellis, Anthony and Muzny, Donna M and Katsanis, Nicholas and Battaloglu, Esra and Boerwinkle, Eric and Gibbs, Richard A and Lupski, James R} } @article {109, title = {Mutations in Either TUBB or MAPRE2 Cause Circumferential Skin Creases Kunze Type.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {97}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Dec 03}, pages = {790-800}, abstract = {

Circumferential skin creases Kunze type (CSC-KT) is a specific congenital entity with an unknown genetic cause. The disease phenotype comprises characteristic circumferential skin creases accompanied by intellectual disability, a cleft palate, short stature, and dysmorphic features. Here, we report that mutations in either MAPRE2 or TUBB underlie the genetic origin of this syndrome. MAPRE2 encodes a member of the microtubule end-binding family of proteins that bind to the guanosine triphosphate cap at growing microtubule plus ends, and TUBB encodes a β-tubulin isotype that is expressed abundantly in the developing brain. Functional analyses of the TUBB mutants show multiple defects in the chaperone-dependent tubulin heterodimer folding and assembly pathway that leads to a compromised yield of native heterodimers. The TUBB mutations also have an impact on microtubule dynamics. For MAPRE2, we show that the mutations result in enhanced MAPRE2 binding to microtubules, implying an increased dwell time at microtubule plus ends. Further, in vivo analysis of MAPRE2 mutations in a zebrafish model of craniofacial development shows that the variants most likely perturb the patterning of branchial arches, either through excessive activity (under a recessive paradigm) or through haploinsufficiency (dominant de novo paradigm). Taken together, our data add CSC-KT to the growing list of tubulinopathies and highlight how multiple inheritance paradigms can affect dosage-sensitive biological systems so as to result in the same clinical defect.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Animals, Brain, Child, Cutis Laxa, Female, Gene Dosage, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Genes, Recessive, Hamartoma, Haploinsufficiency, Humans, Infant, Inheritance Patterns, Male, Microtubule-Associated Proteins, Microtubules, Mutation, Protein Folding, Protein Multimerization, Skin, Skin Abnormalities, Tubulin, Young Adult, Zebrafish}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2015.10.014}, author = {Isrie, Mala and Breuss, Martin and Tian, Guoling and Hansen, Andi Harley and Cristofoli, Francesca and Morandell, Jasmin and Kupchinsky, Zachari A and Sifrim, Alejandro and Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Celia Maria and Dapena, Elena Porta and Doonanco, Kurston and Leonard, Norma and Tinsa, Faten and Moortgat, St{\'e}phanie and Ulucan, Hakan and Koparir, Erkan and Karaca, Ender and Katsanis, Nicholas and Marton, Valeria and Vermeesch, Joris Robert and Davis, Erica E and Cowan, Nicholas J and Keays, David Anthony and Van Esch, Hilde} } @article {220, title = {A drosophila genetic resource of mutants to study mechanisms underlying human genetic diseases.}, journal = {Cell}, volume = {159}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Sep 25}, pages = {200-214}, abstract = {

Invertebrate model systems are powerful tools for studying human disease owing to their genetic tractability and ease of screening. We conducted a mosaic genetic screen of lethal mutations on the Drosophila X chromosome to identify genes required for the development, function, and maintenance of the nervous system. We identified 165 genes, most of whose function has not been studied in vivo. In parallel, we investigated rare variant alleles in 1,929 human exomes from families with unsolved Mendelian disease. Genes that are essential in flies and have multiple human homologs were found to be likely to be associated with human diseases. Merging the human data sets with the fly genes allowed us to identify disease-associated mutations in six families and to provide insights into microcephaly associated with brain dysgenesis. This bidirectional synergism between fly genetics and human genomics facilitates the functional annotation of evolutionarily conserved genes involved in human health.

}, keywords = {Animals, Disease, Disease Models, Animal, Drosophila melanogaster, Genetic Testing, Humans, Inheritance Patterns, RNA Interference, X Chromosome}, issn = {1097-4172}, doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2014.09.002}, author = {Yamamoto, Shinya and Jaiswal, Manish and Charng, Wu-Lin and Gambin, Tomasz and Karaca, Ender and Mirzaa, Ghayda and Wiszniewski, Wojciech and Sandoval, Hector and Haelterman, Nele A and Xiong, Bo and Zhang, Ke and Bayat, Vafa and David, Gabriela and Li, Tongchao and Chen, Kuchuan and Gala, Upasana and Harel, Tamar and Pehlivan, Davut and Penney, Samantha and Vissers, Lisenka E L M and de Ligt, Joep and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Xie, Yajing and Tsang, Stephen H and Parman, Yesim and Sivaci, Merve and Battaloglu, Esra and Muzny, Donna and Wan, Ying-Wooi and Liu, Zhandong and Lin-Moore, Alexander T and Clark, Robin D and Curry, Cynthia J and Link, Nichole and Schulze, Karen L and Boerwinkle, Eric and Dobyns, William B and Allikmets, Rando and Gibbs, Richard A and Chen, Rui and Lupski, James R and Wangler, Michael F and Bellen, Hugo J} } @article {253, title = {Human CLP1 mutations alter tRNA biogenesis, affecting both peripheral and central nervous system function.}, journal = {Cell}, volume = {157}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Apr 24}, pages = {636-50}, abstract = {

CLP1 is a RNA kinase involved in tRNA splicing. Recently, CLP1 kinase-dead mice were shown to display a neuromuscular disorder with loss of motor neurons and muscle paralysis. Human genome analyses now identified a CLP1 homozygous missense mutation (p.R140H) in five unrelated families, leading to a loss of CLP1 interaction with the tRNA splicing endonuclease (TSEN) complex, largely reduced pre-tRNA cleavage activity, and accumulation of linear tRNA introns. The affected individuals develop severe motor-sensory defects, cortical dysgenesis, and microcephaly. Mice carrying kinase-dead CLP1 also displayed microcephaly and reduced cortical brain volume due to the enhanced cell death of neuronal progenitors that is associated with reduced numbers of cortical neurons. Our data elucidate a neurological syndrome defined by CLP1 mutations that impair tRNA splicing. Reduction of a founder mutation to homozygosity illustrates the importance of rare variations in disease and supports the clan genomics hypothesis.

}, keywords = {Abnormalities, Multiple, Animals, Central Nervous System Diseases, Cerebrum, Child, Preschool, Endoribonucleases, Female, Fibroblasts, Humans, Infant, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred CBA, Microcephaly, Mutation, Missense, Nuclear Proteins, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases, Phosphotransferases, RNA, Transfer, Transcription Factors}, issn = {1097-4172}, doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2014.02.058}, author = {Karaca, Ender and Weitzer, Stefan and Pehlivan, Davut and Shiraishi, Hiroshi and Gogakos, Tasos and Hanada, Toshikatsu and Jhangiani, Shalini N and Wiszniewski, Wojciech and Withers, Marjorie and Campbell, Ian M and Erdin, Serkan and Isikay, Sedat and Franco, Luis M and Gonzaga-Jauregui, Claudia and Gambin, Tomasz and Gelowani, Violet and Hunter, Jill V and Yesil, G{\"o}zde and Koparir, Erkan and Yilmaz, Sarenur and Brown, Miguel and Briskin, Daniel and Hafner, Markus and Morozov, Pavel and Farazi, Thalia A and Bernreuther, Christian and Glatzel, Markus and Trattnig, Siegfried and Friske, Joachim and Kronnerwetter, Claudia and Bainbridge, Matthew N and Gezdirici, Alper and Seven, Mehmet and Muzny, Donna M and Boerwinkle, Eric and Ozen, Mustafa and Clausen, Tim and Tuschl, Thomas and Yuksel, Adnan and Hess, Andreas and Gibbs, Richard A and Martinez, Javier and Penninger, Josef M and Lupski, James R} } @article {243, title = {Monoallelic and biallelic mutations in MAB21L2 cause a spectrum of major eye malformations.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {94}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Jun 05}, pages = {915-23}, abstract = {

We identified four different missense mutations in the single-exon gene MAB21L2 in eight individuals with bilateral eye malformations from five unrelated families via three independent exome sequencing projects. Three mutational events altered the same amino acid (Arg51), and two were identical de novo mutations (c.151C>T [p.Arg51Cys]) in unrelated children with bilateral anophthalmia, intellectual disability, and rhizomelic skeletal dysplasia. c.152G>A (p.Arg51His) segregated with autosomal-dominant bilateral colobomatous microphthalmia in a large multiplex family. The fourth heterozygous mutation (c.145G>A [p.Glu49Lys]) affected an amino acid within two residues of Arg51 in an adult male with bilateral colobomata. In a fifth family, a homozygous mutation (c.740G>A [p.Arg247Gln]) altering a different region of the protein was identified in two male siblings with bilateral retinal colobomata. In mouse embryos, Mab21l2 showed strong expression in the developing eye, pharyngeal arches, and limb bud. As predicted by structural homology, wild-type MAB21L2 bound single-stranded RNA, whereas this activity was lost in all altered forms of the protein. MAB21L2 had no detectable nucleotidyltransferase activity in~vitro, and its function remains unknown. Induced expression of wild-type MAB21L2 in human embryonic kidney 293 cells increased phospho-ERK (pERK1/2) signaling. Compared to the wild-type and p.Arg247Gln proteins, the proteins with the Glu49 and Arg51 variants had increased stability. Abnormal persistence of pERK1/2 signaling in MAB21L2-expressing cells during development is a plausible pathogenic mechanism for the heterozygous mutations. The phenotype associated with the homozygous mutation might be a consequence of complete loss of MAB21L2 RNA binding, although the cellular function of this interaction remains unknown.

}, keywords = {Adult, Alleles, Animals, Anophthalmos, Brain Diseases, Metabolic, Inborn, Coloboma, Corneal Opacity, Exome, Eye Proteins, Female, Gene Expression, HEK293 Cells, Heterozygote, Homozygote, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Male, Mice, Microcephaly, Microphthalmos, Mutation, Missense, Pedigree, Phenotype, Protein Conformation, Signal Transduction}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.05.005}, author = {Rainger, Joe and Pehlivan, Davut and Johansson, Stefan and Bengani, Hemant and Sanchez-Pulido, Luis and Williamson, Kathleen A and Ture, Mehmet and Barker, Heather and Rosendahl, Karen and Spranger, J{\"u}rgen and Horn, Denise and Meynert, Alison and Floyd, James A B and Prescott, Trine and Anderson, Carl A and Rainger, Jacqueline K and Karaca, Ender and Gonzaga-Jauregui, Claudia and Jhangiani, Shalini and Muzny, Donna M and Seawright, Anne and Soares, Dinesh C and Kharbanda, Mira and Murday, Victoria and Finch, Andrew and Gibbs, Richard A and van Heyningen, Veronica and Taylor, Martin S and Yakut, Tahsin and Knappskog, Per M and Hurles, Matthew E and Ponting, Chris P and Lupski, James R and Houge, Gunnar and FitzPatrick, David R} }