Knockdown of myorg leads to brain calcification in zebrafish.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Zhao M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9308368 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Objective:To investigate the genetic basis of the recessive form of primary familial brain calcification and study pathways linking a novel gene with known dominant genes that cause the disease. Methods:Whole exome sequencing and Sanger-based segregation analysis were used to identify possible disease causing mutations. Mutation pathogenicity was validated by structural protein modeling. Functional associations between the candidate gene, MYORG, and genes previously implicated in the disease were examined through phylogenetic profiling. Results:We studied nine affected individuals from two unrelated families of Middle Eastern origin. The median age of symptom onset was 29.5 years (range 21-57 years) and dysarthria was the most common presenting symptom. We identified in the MYORG gene, a homozygous c.1233delC mutation in one family and c.1060_1062delGAC mutation in another. The first mutation results in protein truncation and the second in deletion of a highly conserved aspartic acid that is likely to disrupt binding of the protein with its substrate. Phylogenetic profiling analysis of the MYORG protein sequence suggests co-evolution with a number of calcium channels as well as other proteins related to regulation of anion transmembrane transport (False Discovery Rate, FDR < 10-8) and with PDCD6IP, a protein interacting with PDGFR ? which is known to be involved in the disease. Interpretation:MYORG mutations are linked to a recessive form of primary familial brain calcification. This association was recently described in patients of Chinese ancestry. We suggest the possibility that MYORG mutations lead to calcification in a PDGFR ?-related pathway.
| S-EPMC6331209 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) is a progressive neurological disorder manifesting as bilateral brain calcifications in CT scan with symptoms as parkinsonism, dystonia, ataxia, psychiatric symptoms, etc. Recently, pathogenic variants in MYORG have been linked to autosomal recessive PFBC. This study aims to elucidate the mutational and clinical spectrum of MYORG mutations in a large cohort of Chinese PFBC patients with possible autosomal recessive or absent family history. Mutational analyses of MYORG were performed by Sanger sequencing in a cohort of 245 PFBC patients including 21 subjects from 10 families compatible with a possibly autosomal-recessive trait and 224 apparently sporadic cases. In-depth phenotyping and neuroimaging features were investigated in all patients with novel MYORG variants. Two nonsense variants (c.442C > T, p. Q148*; c.972C > A, p. Y324*) and two missense variants (c.1969G>C, p. G657R; c.2033C > G, p. P678R) of MYORG were identified in four sporadic PFBC patients, respectively. These four novel variants were absent in gnomAD, and their amino acid were highly conserved, suggesting these variants have a pathogenic impact. Patients with MYORG variants tend to display a homogeneous clinical spectrum, showing extensive brain calcification and parkinsonism, dysarthria, ataxia, or vertigo. Our findings supported the pathogenic role of MYORG variants in PFBC and identified two pathogenic variants (c.442C > T, c.972C > A), one likely pathogenic variant (c.2033C > G), and one variant of uncertain significance (c.1969G>C), further expanding the genetic and phenotypic spectrum of PFBC-MYORG.
| S-EPMC8570371 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) is a rare inherited disease characterized by multiple calcified foci in the brain parenchyma. MYORG is the first gene found to be associated with autosomal recessive PFBC. The precise pathogenic mechanism of neurodegeneration in PFBC remains unclear. The clinical phenotypes of PFBC are variable, and there is no clear correlation between clinical manifestations and radiological and pathological features of calcification. CASE PRESENTATION:Two sisters in a Taiwanese family presented with young-onset Parkinsonism and multifocal dystonia. Their brain CTs showed multiple intracerebral calcifications. The genetic study detected two heterozygous novel variants, c.104?T?>?A (p.Met35Lys) and c.850?T?>?C (p.Cys284Arg) in the MYORG gene. In both patients, MR susceptibility weighted images revealed calcification of the deep medullary veins. Tc99m ECD SPECT demonstrated a significant decrease of tracer uptake in the brain cortex and subcortical gray matter. Tc99m TRODAT-1 SPECT revealed decreased tracer uptake in the bilateral striatum. CONCLUSION:Two novel MYORG variants were identified in Taiwanese family members presenting with PFBC. Abnormalities in the brain perfusion and dopamine transporter SPECTs suggest that cerebral ischemia due to extensive calcified vasculopathy, disruption of the basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuit, and nigrostriatal dopaminergic dysfunction are plausible pathogenic mechanisms of neurodegeneration in PFBC patients. Further investigation into the correlations between the pathogenicity-implicated imaging findings and the clinical phenotype are recommended.
| S-EPMC7460774 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) is characterised by abnormal deposits of calcium phosphate within various regions of the brain that are associated with severe cognitive impairments, psychiatric conditions, and movement disorders. Recent studies in diverse populations have shown a link between mutations in myogenesis-regulating glycosidase (MYORG) and the development of this disease. MYORG is a member of glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 31 (GH31) and, like the other mammalian GH31 enzyme α-glucosidase II, this enzyme is found in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Though presumed to act as an α-glucosidase due to its localization and sequence relatedness to α-glucosidase II, MYORG has never been shown to exhibit catalytic activity. Here, we show that MYORG is an α-galactosidase and present the high-resolution crystal structure of MYORG in complex with substrate and inhibitor. Using these structures, we map detrimental mutations that are associated with MYORG-associated brain calcification and define how these mutations may drive disease progression through loss of enzymatic activity. Finally, we also detail the thermal stabilisation of MYORG afforded by a clinically approved small molecule ligand, opening the possibility of using pharmacological chaperones to enhance the activity of mutant forms of MYORG.
| S-EPMC9491548 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) is a disorder in which pathologic calcification of the basal ganglia, cerebellum, or other brain regions with bilateral symmetry occurs. Common clinical symptoms include dysarthria, cerebellar symptoms, motor deficits, and cognitive impairment. Genetic factors are an important cause of the disease; however autosomal recessive (AR) inheritance is rare. In 2018, the myogenesis-regulated glycosidase (MYORG) gene was the first to be associated with AR-PFBC. The present case is a 24-year-old woman with AR-PFBC that presented with migraine at the age of 16 years. Symmetrical patchy calcifications were seen in the bilateral cerebellopontine nuclei, thalamus, basal ganglia, and radiocoronal area on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. AR-PFBC with migraine as the main clinical symptom is rare. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a compound heterozygous mutation in the MYORG gene, one of which has not been previously reported. Our case highlights the pathogenic profile of the MYORG gene, and demonstrates the need for exclusion of calcium deposits in the brain for migraine patients with AR inheritance.
| S-EPMC9932805 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AMBRA1 is a positive regulator of the BECN1-dependent program of autophagy recently identified in mouse. In this study, we cloned the full-length cDNAs of ambra1a and ambra1b zebrafish paralogous genes. As in mouse, both Ambra1 proteins contain the characteristic WD40 repeat region. The transcripts of both genes are present as maternal RNAs in the eggs and display a gradual decline until 8 hpf, being replaced by zygotic mRNAs from 12 hpf onwards. After 24 hpf, the transcripts are mainly localized in the head, suggesting a possible role in brain development. To check their developmental roles, we adopted morpholino knockdown to block either translation (ATGMOs) or splicing (SPLICMOs). Treatment with ATGMOs causes severe embryonic malformations, as prelarvae could survive for only 3 and 4 days in ambra1a and b morphants, respectively. Treatment with SPLICMOs led to developmental defects only at a late stage, indicating the importance of maternally supplied ambra1 transcripts. Analysis of the levels of Lc3-II, an autophagosome-specific marker, in the presence of lysosome inhibitors evidenced a reduction in the rate of autophagosome formation in both MOs-injected embryos at 48 hpf, more pronounced in the case of ambra1a gene. Although some defects, such as body growth delay, curved shape and hemorrhagic pericardial cavity were present in both morphants, the occurrence of specific phenotypes, such as major abnormalities of brain development in ambra1a morphants, suggests the possible acquisition of specific functions by the two paralogous genes that are both required during development and do not compensate each other following knockdown.
| S-EPMC3627665 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundBirt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHD) is a dominantly inherited familial cancer syndrome characterised by the development of benign skin fibrofolliculomas, multiple lung and kidney cysts, spontaneous pneumothorax and susceptibility to renal cell carcinoma. BHD is caused by mutations in the gene encoding Folliculin (FLCN). Little is known about what FLCN does in a healthy individual and how best to treat those with BHD. As a first approach to developing a vertebrate model for BHD we aimed to identify the temporal and spatial expression of flcn transcripts in the developing zebrafish embryo. To gain insights into the function of flcn in a whole organism system we generated a loss of function model of flcn by the use of morpholino knockdown in zebrafish.Resultsflcn is expressed broadly and upregulated in the fin bud, somites, eye and proliferative regions of the brain of the Long-pec stage zebrafish embryos. Together with knockdown phenotypes, expression analysis suggest involvement of flcn in zebrafish embryonic brain development. We have utilised the zFucci system, an in vivo, whole organism cell cycle assay to study the potential role of flcn in brain development. We found that at the 18 somite stage there was a significant drop in cells in the S-M phase of the cell cycle in flcn morpholino injected embryos with a corresponding increase of cells in the G1 phase. This was particularly evident in the brain, retina and somites of the embryo. Timelapse analysis of the head region of flcn morpholino injected and mismatch control embryos shows the temporal dynamics of cell cycle misregulation during development.ConclusionsIn conclusion we show that zebrafish flcn is expressed in a non-uniform manner and is likely required for the maintenance of correct cell cycle regulation during embryonic development. We demonstrate the utilisation of the zFucci system in testing the role of flcn in cell proliferation and suggest a function for flcn in regulating cell proliferation in vertebrate embryonic brain development.
| S-EPMC4939010 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Calcification of the cerebral microvessels in the basal ganglia in the absence of systemic calcium and phosphate imbalance is a hallmark of primary familial brain calcification (PFBC), a rare neurodegenerative disorder. Mutation in genes encoding for sodium-dependent phosphate transporter 2 (SLC20A2), xenotropic and polytropic retrovirus receptor 1 (XPR1), platelet-derived growth factor B (PDGFB), platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRB), myogenesis regulating glycosidase (MYORG), and junctional adhesion molecule 2 (JAM2) are known to cause PFBC. Loss-of-function mutations in XPR1, the only known inorganic phosphate exporter in metazoans, causing dominantly inherited PFBC was first reported in 2015 but until now no studies in the brain have addressed whether loss of one functional allele leads to pathological alterations in mice, a commonly used organism to model human diseases. Here we show that mice heterozygous for Xpr1 (Xpr1WT/lacZ ) present with reduced inorganic phosphate levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and age- and sex-dependent growth of vascular calcifications in the thalamus. Vascular calcifications are surrounded by vascular basement membrane and are located at arterioles in the smooth muscle layer. Similar to previously characterized PFBC mouse models, vascular calcifications in Xpr1WT/lacZ mice contain bone matrix proteins and are surrounded by reactive astrocytes and microglia. However, microglial activation is not confined to calcified vessels but shows a widespread presence. In addition to vascular calcifications, we observed vessel tortuosity and transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed microangiopathy-endothelial swelling, phenotypic alterations in vascular smooth muscle cells, and thickening of the basement membrane.
| S-EPMC10580014 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Epilepsy is a common disorder, typified by recurrent seizures with underlying neurological disorders or disease. Approximately one-third of patients are unresponsive to currently available therapies. Thus, a deeper understanding of the genetics and etiology of epilepsy is needed to advance the development of new therapies. Previously, treatment of zebrafish with epilepsy-inducing pharmacological agents was shown to result in a seizure-like phenotype, suggesting that fish provide a tractable model to understand the function of epilepsy-predisposing genes. Here, we report the first model of genetically linked epilepsy in zebrafish and provide an initial characterization of the behavioral and neurological phenotypes associated with morpholino (MO) knockdown of leucine-rich, glioma-inactivated 1a (lgi1a) expression. Mutations in the LGI1 gene in humans have been shown to predispose to a subtype of autosomal dominant epilepsy. Low-dose Lgi1a MO knockdown fish (morphants) appear morphologically normal but are sensitized to epilepsy-inducing drugs. High-dose Lgi1a morphants have morphological defects which persist into adult stages that are typified by smaller brains and eyes and abnormalities in tail shape, and display hyperactive swimming behaviors. Increased apoptosis was observed throughout the central nervous system of high-dose morphant fish, accounting for the size reduction of neural tissues. These observations demonstrate that zebrafish can be exploited to dissect the embryonic function(s) of genes known to predispose to seizure-like behavior in humans, and offer potential insight into the relationship between developmental neurobiological abnormalities and seizure.
| S-EPMC2957326 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Isomerization of l-aspartyl and l-asparaginyl residues to l-isoaspartyl residues is one type of protein damage that can occur under physiological conditions and leads to conformational changes, loss of function, and enhanced protein degradation. Protein l-isoaspartyl methyltransferase (PCMT) is a repair enzyme whose action initiates the reconversion of abnormal l-isoaspartyl residues to normal l-aspartyl residues in proteins. Many lines of evidence support a crucial role for PCMT in the brain, but the mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated PCMT activity and function in zebrafish, a vertebrate model that is particularly well-suited to analyze brain function using a variety of techniques. We characterized the expression products of the zebrafish PCMT homologous genes pcmt and pcmtl. Both zebrafish proteins showed a robust l-isoaspartyl methyltransferase activity and highest mRNA transcript levels were found in brain and testes. Zebrafish morphant larvae with a knockdown in both the pcmt and pcmtl genes showed pronounced morphological abnormalities, decreased survival, and increased isoaspartyl levels. Interestingly, we identified a profound perturbation of brain calcium homeostasis in these morphants. An abnormal calcium response upon ATP stimulation was also observed in mouse hippocampal HT22 cells knocked out for Pcmt1. This work shows that zebrafish is a promising model to unravel further facets of PCMT function and demonstrates, for the first time in vivo, that PCMT plays a pivotal role in the regulation of calcium fluxes.
| S-EPMC7859441 | biostudies-literature