bims-actimu 2024-02-25 papers

Issue of 2024‒02‒25
two papers selected by
Elodie Busch, University of Strasbourg

Life (Basel). 2024 Feb 09. pii: 244. [Epub ahead of print]14(2):

De Novo Variants Found in Three Distinct Schizophrenia Populations Hit a Common Core Gene Network Related to Microtubule and Actin Cytoskeleton Gene Ontology Classes.

Yann Loe-Mie, Christine Plançon, Caroline Dubertret, Takeo Yoshikawa, Binnaz Yalcin, Stephan C Collins, Anne Boland, Jean-François Deleuze, Philip Gorwood, Dalila Benmessaoud, Michel Simonneau, Aude-Marie Lepagnol-Bestel.

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a heterogeneous and debilitating psychiatric disorder with a strong genetic component. To elucidate functional networks perturbed in schizophrenia, we analysed a large dataset of whole-genome studies that identified SNVs, CNVs, and a multi-stage schizophrenia genome-wide association study. Our analysis identified three subclusters that are interrelated and with small overlaps: GO:0007017~Microtubule-Based Process, GO:00015629~Actin Cytoskeleton, and GO:0007268~SynapticTransmission. We next analysed three distinct trio cohorts of 75 SZ Algerian, 45 SZ French, and 61 SZ Japanese patients. We performed Illumina HiSeq whole-exome sequencing and identified de novo mutations using a Bayesian approach. We validated 88 de novo mutations by Sanger sequencing: 35 in French, 21 in Algerian, and 32 in Japanese SZ patients. These 88 de novo mutations exhibited an enrichment in genes encoding proteins related to GO:0051015~actin filament binding (p = 0.0011) using David, and enrichments in GO: 0003774~transport (p = 0.019) and GO:0003729~mRNA binding (p = 0.010) using Amigo. One of these de novo variant was found in CORO1C coding sequence. We studied Coro1c haploinsufficiency in a Coro1c+/- mouse and found defects in the corpus callosum. These results could motivate future studies of the mechanisms surrounding genes encoding proteins involved in transport and the cytoskeleton, with the goal of developing therapeutic intervention strategies for a subset of SZ cases.

Keywords: Coro1c gene; Coro1c mouse; cohorts; cytoskeleton; gene ontology; microtubule; mutation; schizophrenia trios

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/life14020244

J Hum Genet. 2024 Feb 19.

Heterozygous CAPZA2 mutations cause global developmental delay, hypotonia with epilepsy: a case report and the literature review.

Xiao-Man Zhang, Kai-Li Xu, Jing-Hui Kong, Geng Dong, Shi-Jie Dong, Zhi-Xiao Yang, Shu-Jing Xu, Li Wang, Shu-Ying Luo, Yao-Dong Zhang, Chong-Chen Zhou, Wei-Yue Gu, Shi-Yue Mei.

CAPZA2 encodes the α2 subunit of CAPZA, which is vital for actin polymerization and depolymerization in humans. However, understanding of diseases associated with CAPZA2 remains limited. To date, only three cases have been documented with neurodevelopmental abnormalities such as delayed motor development, speech delay, intellectual disability, hypotonia, and a history of seizures. In this study, we document a patient who exhibited seizures, mild intellectual disability, and impaired motor development yet did not demonstrate speech delay or hypotonia. The patient also suffered from recurrent instances of respiratory infections, gastrointestinal and allergic diseases. A novel de novo splicing variant c.219+1 G > A was detected in the CAPZA2 gene through whole-exome sequencing. This variant led to exon 4 skipping in mRNA splicing, confirmed by RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing. To our knowledge, this is the third study on human CAPZA2 defects, documenting the fourth unambiguously diagnosed case. Furthermore, this splicing mutation type is reported here for the first time. Our research offers additional support for the existence of a CAPZA2-related non-syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder. Our findings augment our understanding of the phenotypic range associated with CAPZA2 deficiency and enrich the knowledge of the mutational spectrum of the CAPZA2 gene.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s10038-024-01230-z