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Single-cell genetic expression of mutant GABAA receptors causing Human genetic epilepsy alters dendritic spine and GABAergic bouton formation in a mutation-specific manner.

ABSTRACT: Mutations in genes encoding for GABAA receptor subunits is a well-established cause of genetic generalized epilepsy. GABA neurotransmission is implicated in several developmental processes including neurite outgrowth and synapse formation. Alteration in excitatory/inhibitory synaptic activities plays a critical role in epilepsy, thus here we investigated whether mutations in ?1 subunit of GABAA receptor may affect dendritic spine and GABAergic bouton formation. In particular, we examined the effects of three mutations of the GABRA1 gene (D219N, A322D and K353delins18X) that were found in a cohort of French Canadian families with genetic generalized epilepsy. We used a novel single-cell genetic approach, by preparing cortical organotypic cultures from GABRA1 (flox/flox) mice and simultaneously inactivating endogenous GABRA1 and transfecting mutant ?1 subunits in single glutamatergic pyramidal cells and basket GABAergic interneurons by biolistic transfection. We found that GABRA1 (-/-) GABAergic cells showed reduced innervation field, which was rescued by co-expressing ?1-A322D and ?1-WT but not ?1-D219N. We further found that the expression of the most severe GABRA1 missense mutation (?1-A322D) induced a striking increase of spine density in pyramidal cells along with an increase in the number of mushroom-like spines. In addition, ?1-A322D expression in GABAergic cells slightly increased perisomatic bouton density, whereas other mutations did not alter bouton formation. All together, these results suggest that the effects of different GABAAR mutations on GABAergic bouton and dendritic spine formation are specific to the mutation and cannot be always explained by a simple loss-of-function gene model. The use of single cell genetic manipulation in organotypic cultures may provide a better understanding of the specific and distinct neural circuit alterations caused by different GABAA receptor subunit mutations and will help define the pathophysiology of genetic generalized epilepsy syndromes.

SUBMITTER: Lachance-Touchette P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4196543 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Single-cell genetic expression of mutant GABAA receptors causing Human genetic epilepsy alters dendritic spine and GABAergic bouton formation in a mutation-specific manner.

Lachance-Touchette Pamela P Choudhury Mayukh M Stoica Ana A Di Cristo Graziella G Cossette Patrick P

Frontiers in cellular neuroscience 20141014

Mutations in genes encoding for GABAA receptor subunits is a well-established cause of genetic generalized epilepsy. GABA neurotransmission is implicated in several developmental processes including neurite outgrowth and synapse formation. Alteration in excitatory/inhibitory synaptic activities plays a critical role in epilepsy, thus here we investigated whether mutations in α1 subunit of GABAA receptor may affect dendritic spine and GABAergic bouton formation. In particular, we examined the eff ...[more]

PMID: 25352779

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Project description:There is considerable genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity associated with intellectual disability (ID), specific learning disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism and epilepsy. The intelligence quotient (IQ) motif and SEC7 domain containing protein 2 gene (IQSEC2) is located on the X-chromosome and harbors mutations that contribute to non-syndromic ID with and without early-onset seizure phenotypes in both sexes. Although IQ and Sec7 domain mutations lead to partial loss of IQSEC2 enzymatic activity, the in vivo pathogenesis resulting from these mutations is not known. Here we reveal that IQSEC2 has a key role in dendritic spine morphology. Partial loss-of-function mutations were modeled using a lentiviral short hairpin RNA (shRNA) approach, which achieved a 57% knockdown of Iqsec2 expression in primary hippocampal cell cultures from mice. Investigating gross morphological parameters after 8 days of in vitro culture (8DIV) identified a 32% reduction in primary axon length, in contrast to a 27% and 31% increase in the number and complexity of dendrites protruding from the cell body, respectively. This increase in dendritic complexity and spread was carried through dendritic spine development, with a 34% increase in the number of protrusions per dendritic segment compared with controls at 15DIV. Although the number of dendritic spines had normalized by 21DIV, a reduction was noted in the number of immature spines. In contrast, when modeling increased dosage, overexpression of wild-type IQSEC2 led to neurons with shorter axons that were more compact and displayed simpler dendritic branching. Disturbances to dendritic morphology due to knockdown of Iqsec2 were recapitulated in neurons from Iqsec2 knockout mice generated in our laboratory using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. These observations provide evidence of dosage sensitivity for IQSEC2, which normally escapes X-inactivation in females, and links these disturbances in expression to alterations in the morphology of developing neurons.

Dataset Information

Single-cell genetic expression of mutant GABAA receptors causing Human genetic epilepsy alters dendritic spine and GABAergic bouton formation in a mutation-specific manner.

Publications

Single-cell genetic expression of mutant GABAA receptors causing Human genetic epilepsy alters dendritic spine and GABAergic bouton formation in a mutation-specific manner.

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