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Lobanov SV, McAllister B, McDade-Kumar M, Landwehrmeyer GB, Orth M, Rosser AE, Paulsen JS, Lee JM, MacDonald ME, Gusella JF, Long JD, Ryten M, Williams NM, Holmans P, Massey TH, Jones L. Huntington's disease age at motor onset is modified by the tandem hexamer repeat in TCERG1. NPJ Genom Med 2022; 7:53. [PMID: 36064847 PMCID: PMC9445028 DOI: 10.1038/s41525-022-00317-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease is caused by an expanded CAG tract in HTT. The length of the CAG tract accounts for over half the variance in age at onset of disease, and is influenced by other genetic factors, mostly implicating the DNA maintenance machinery. We examined a single nucleotide variant, rs79727797, on chromosome 5 in the TCERG1 gene, previously reported to be associated with Huntington's disease and a quasi-tandem repeat (QTR) hexamer in exon 4 of TCERG1 with a central pure repeat. We developed a method for calling perfect and imperfect repeats from exome-sequencing data, and tested association between the QTR in TCERG1 and residual age at motor onset (after correcting for the effects of CAG length in the HTT gene) in 610 individuals with Huntington's disease via regression analysis. We found a significant association between age at onset and the sum of the repeat lengths from both alleles of the QTR (p = 2.1 × 10-9), with each added repeat hexamer reducing age at onset by one year (95% confidence interval [0.7, 1.4]). This association explained that previously observed with rs79727797. The association with age at onset in the genome-wide association study is due to a QTR hexamer in TCERG1, translated to a glutamine/alanine tract in the protein. We could not distinguish whether this was due to cis-effects of the hexamer repeat on gene expression or of the encoded glutamine/alanine tract in the protein. These results motivate further study of the mechanisms by which TCERG1 modifies onset of HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergey V Lobanov
- Medical Research Council Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Branduff McAllister
- Medical Research Council Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Mia McDade-Kumar
- Medical Research Council Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | | | - Michael Orth
- Department of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Bern University, Bern, Switzerland
- Swiss Huntington's Disease Centre, Siloah, Gümligen, Switzerland
| | - Anne E Rosser
- Medical Research Council Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AX, UK
| | - Jane S Paulsen
- Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI53705, USA
| | - Jong-Min Lee
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Marcy E MacDonald
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - James F Gusella
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jeffrey D Long
- Departments of Psychiatry and Biostatistics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Mina Ryten
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Genetics and Genomic Medicine, University, College London, London, UK
- NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, University College London, London, UK
| | - Nigel M Williams
- Medical Research Council Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Peter Holmans
- Medical Research Council Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Thomas H Massey
- Medical Research Council Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
| | - Lesley Jones
- Medical Research Council Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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Meganathan K, Prakasam R, Baldridge D, Gontarz P, Zhang B, Urano F, Bonni A, Maloney SE, Turner TN, Huettner JE, Constantino JN, Kroll KL. Altered neuronal physiology, development, and function associated with a common chromosome 15 duplication involving CHRNA7. BMC Biol 2021; 19:147. [PMID: 34320968 PMCID: PMC8317352 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-021-01080-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Copy number variants (CNVs) linked to genes involved in nervous system development or function are often associated with neuropsychiatric disease. While CNVs involving deletions generally cause severe and highly penetrant patient phenotypes, CNVs leading to duplications tend instead to exhibit widely variable and less penetrant phenotypic expressivity among affected individuals. CNVs located on chromosome 15q13.3 affecting the alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit (CHRNA7) gene contribute to multiple neuropsychiatric disorders with highly variable penetrance. However, the basis of such differential penetrance remains uncharacterized. Here, we generated induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models from first-degree relatives with a 15q13.3 duplication and analyzed their cellular phenotypes to uncover a basis for the dissimilar phenotypic expressivity. RESULTS The first-degree relatives studied included a boy with autism and emotional dysregulation (the affected proband-AP) and his clinically unaffected mother (UM), with comparison to unrelated control models lacking this duplication. Potential contributors to neuropsychiatric impairment were modeled in iPSC-derived cortical excitatory and inhibitory neurons. The AP-derived model uniquely exhibited disruptions of cellular physiology and neurodevelopment not observed in either the UM or unrelated controls. These included enhanced neural progenitor proliferation but impaired neuronal differentiation, maturation, and migration, and increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Both the neuronal migration deficit and elevated ER stress could be selectively rescued by different pharmacologic agents. Neuronal gene expression was also dysregulated in the AP, including reduced expression of genes related to behavior, psychological disorders, neuritogenesis, neuronal migration, and Wnt, axonal guidance, and GABA receptor signaling. The UM model instead exhibited upregulated expression of genes in many of these same pathways, suggesting that molecular compensation could have contributed to the lack of neurodevelopmental phenotypes in this model. However, both AP- and UM-derived neurons exhibited shared alterations of neuronal function, including increased action potential firing and elevated cholinergic activity, consistent with increased homomeric CHRNA7 channel activity. CONCLUSIONS These data define both diagnosis-associated cellular phenotypes and shared functional anomalies related to CHRNA7 duplication that may contribute to variable phenotypic penetrance in individuals with 15q13.3 duplication. The capacity for pharmacological agents to rescue some neurodevelopmental anomalies associated with diagnosis suggests avenues for intervention for carriers of this duplication and other CNVs that cause related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kesavan Meganathan
- Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Campus, Box 8103, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - Ramachandran Prakasam
- Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Campus, Box 8103, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - Dustin Baldridge
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - Paul Gontarz
- Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Campus, Box 8103, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - Bo Zhang
- Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Campus, Box 8103, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - Fumihiko Urano
- Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - Azad Bonni
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - Susan E. Maloney
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - Tychele N. Turner
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - James E. Huettner
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - John N. Constantino
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
| | - Kristen L. Kroll
- Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Campus, Box 8103, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
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Cortini A, Bembich S, Marson L, Cocco E, Edomi P. Identification of novel non-myelin biomarkers in multiple sclerosis using an improved phage-display approach. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0226162. [PMID: 31805175 PMCID: PMC6894809 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the etiology of multiple sclerosis is not yet understood, it is accepted that its pathogenesis involves both autoimmune and neurodegenerative processes, in which the role of autoreactive T-cells has been elucidated. Instead, the contribution of humoral response is still unclear, even if the presence of intrathecal antibodies and B-cells follicle-like structures in meninges of patients has been demonstrated. Several myelin and non-myelin antigens have been identified, but none has been validated as humoral biomarker. In particular autoantibodies against myelin proteins have been found also in healthy individuals, whereas non-myelin antigens have been implicated in neurodegenerative phase of the disease. To provide further putative autoantigens of multiple sclerosis, we investigated the antigen specificity of immunoglobulins present both in sera and in cerebrospinal fluid of patients using phage display technology in a new improved format. A human brain cDNA phage display library was constructed and enriched for open-read-frame fragments. This library was selected against pooled and purified immunoglobulins from cerebrospinal fluid and sera of multiple sclerosis patients. The antigen library was also screened against an antibody scFv library obtained from RNA of B cells purified from the cerebrospinal fluid of two relapsing remitting patients. From all biopanning a complex of 14 antigens were identified; in particular, one of these antigens, corresponding to DDX24 protein, was present in all selections. The ability of more frequently isolated antigens to discriminate between sera from patients with multiple sclerosis or other neurological diseases was investigated. The more promising novel candidate autoantigens were DDX24 and TCERG1. Both are implicated in RNA modification and regulation which can be altered in neurodegenerative processes. Therefore, we propose that they could be a marker of a particular disease activity state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Cortini
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Sara Bembich
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Lorena Marson
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Eleonora Cocco
- Multiple Sclerosis Center, University of Cagliari/ATS Sardegna, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Paolo Edomi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
- * E-mail:
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Moreno-Castro C, Prieto-Sánchez S, Sánchez-Hernández N, Hernández-Munain C, Suñé C. Role for the splicing factor TCERG1 in Cajal body integrity and snRNP assembly. J Cell Sci 2019; 132:jcs.232728. [PMID: 31636114 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.232728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2019] [Accepted: 10/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Cajal bodies are nuclear organelles involved in the nuclear phase of small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) biogenesis. In this study, we identified the splicing factor TCERG1 as a coilin-associated factor that is essential for Cajal body integrity. Knockdown of TCERG1 disrupts the localization of the components of Cajal bodies, including coilin and NOLC1, with coilin being dispersed in the nucleoplasm into numerous small foci, without affecting speckles, gems or the histone locus body. Furthermore, the depletion of TCERG1 affects the recruitment of Sm proteins to uridine-rich small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) to form the mature core snRNP. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that TCERG1 plays an important role in Cajal body formation and snRNP biogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Moreno-Castro
- Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine "López-Neyra" (IPBLN-CSIC), PTS, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Silvia Prieto-Sánchez
- Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine "López-Neyra" (IPBLN-CSIC), PTS, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Noemí Sánchez-Hernández
- Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine "López-Neyra" (IPBLN-CSIC), PTS, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Cristina Hernández-Munain
- Department of Cell Biology and Immunology, Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine "López-Neyra" (IPBLN-CSIC), PTS, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Carlos Suñé
- Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine "López-Neyra" (IPBLN-CSIC), PTS, 18016 Granada, Spain
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Hernando CE, García Hourquet M, de Leone MJ, Careno D, Iserte J, Mora Garcia S, Yanovsky MJ. A Role for Pre-mRNA-PROCESSING PROTEIN 40C in the Control of Growth, Development, and Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2019; 10:1019. [PMID: 31456814 PMCID: PMC6700278 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/22/2019] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Because of their sessile nature, plants have adopted varied strategies for growing and reproducing in an ever-changing environment. Control of mRNA levels and pre-mRNA alternative splicing are key regulatory layers that contribute to adjust and synchronize plant growth and development with environmental changes. Transcription and alternative splicing are thought to be tightly linked and coordinated, at least in part, through a network of transcriptional and splicing regulatory factors that interact with the carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II. One of the proteins that has been shown to play such a role in yeast and mammals is pre-mRNA-PROCESSING PROTEIN 40 (PRP40, also known as CA150, or TCERG1). In plants, members of the PRP40 family have been identified and shown to interact with the CTD of RNA Pol II, but their biological functions remain unknown. Here, we studied the role of AtPRP40C, in Arabidopsis thaliana growth, development and stress tolerance, as well as its impact on the global regulation of gene expression programs. We found that the prp40c knockout mutants display a late-flowering phenotype under long day conditions, associated with minor alterations in red light signaling. An RNA-seq based transcriptome analysis revealed differentially expressed genes related to biotic stress responses and also differentially expressed as well as differentially spliced genes associated with abiotic stress responses. Indeed, the characterization of stress responses in prp40c mutants revealed an increased sensitivity to salt stress and an enhanced tolerance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola (Psm) infections. This constitutes the most thorough analysis of the transcriptome of a prp40 mutant in any organism, as well as the first characterization of the molecular and physiological roles of a member of the PRP40 protein family in plants. Our results suggest that PRP40C is an important factor linking the regulation of gene expression programs to the modulation of plant growth, development, and stress responses.
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Pons M, Prieto S, Miguel L, Frebourg T, Campion D, Suñé C, Lecourtois M. Identification of TCERG1 as a new genetic modulator of TDP-43 production in Drosophila. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2018; 6:138. [PMID: 30541625 PMCID: PMC6292132 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-018-0639-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 11/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
TAR DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is a ubiquitously expressed DNA-/RNA-binding protein that has been linked to numerous aspects of the mRNA life cycle. Similar to many RNA-binding proteins, TDP-43 expression is tightly regulated through an autoregulatory negative feedback loop. Cell function and survival depend on the strict control of TDP-43 protein levels. TDP-43 has been identified as the major constituent of ubiquitin-positive inclusions in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD). Several observations argue for a pathogenic role of elevated TDP-43 levels in these disorders. Modulation of the cycle of TDP-43 production might therefore provide a new therapeutic strategy. Using a Drosophila model mimicking key features of the TDP-43 autoregulatory feedback loop, we identified CG42724 as a genetic modulator of TDP-43 production in vivo. We found that CG42724 protein influences qualitatively and quantitatively the TDP-43 mRNA transcript pattern. CG42724 overexpression promotes the production of transcripts that can be efficiently released into the cytoplasm for protein translation. Importantly, we showed that TCERG1, the human homolog of the Drosophila CG42724 protein, also caused an increase of TDP-43 protein steady-state levels in mammalian cells. Therefore, our data suggest the possibility that targeting TCERG1 could be therapeutic in TDP-43 proteinopathies.
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