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Progressive myoclonus epilepsy KCNC1 variant causes a developmental dendritopathy

Carpenter, JC; Männikkö, R; Heffner, C; Heneine, J; Sampedro-Castañeda, M; Lignani, G; Schorge, S; (2021) Progressive myoclonus epilepsy KCNC1 variant causes a developmental dendritopathy. Epilepsia 10.1111/epi.16867. Green open access

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Mutations in KCNC1 can cause severe neurological dysfunction, including intellectual disability, epilepsy, and ataxia. The Arg320His variant, which occurs in the voltage-sensing domain of the channel, causes a highly penetrant and specific form of progressive myoclonus epilepsy with severe ataxia, designated myoclonus epilepsy and ataxia due to potassium channel mutation (MEAK). KCNC1 encodes the voltage-gated potassium channel KV 3.1, a channel that is important for enabling high-frequency firing in interneurons, raising the possibility that MEAK is associated with reduced interneuronal function. METHODS: To determine how this variant triggers MEAK, we expressed KV 3.1bR320H in cortical interneurons in vitro and investigated the effects on neuronal function and morphology. We also performed electrophysiological recordings of oocytes expressing KV 3.1b to determine whether the mutation introduces gating pore currents. RESULTS: Expression of the KV 3.1bR320H variant profoundly reduced excitability of mature cortical interneurons, and cells expressing these channels were unable to support high-frequency firing. The mutant channel also had an unexpected effect on morphology, severely impairing neurite development and interneuron viability, an effect that could not be rescued by blocking KV 3 channels. Oocyte recordings confirmed that in the adult KV 3.1b isoform, R320H confers a dominant negative loss-of-function effect by slowing channel activation, but does not introduce potentially toxic gating pore currents. SIGNIFICANCE: Overall, our data suggest that, in addition to the regulation of high-frequency firing, KV 3.1 channels play a hitherto unrecognized role in neuronal development. MEAK may be described as a developmental dendritopathy.

Type: Article
Title: Progressive myoclonus epilepsy KCNC1 variant causes a developmental dendritopathy
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1111/epi.16867
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/epi.16867
Language: English
Additional information: © 2021 The Authors. Epilepsia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International League Against Epilepsy. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: KCNC1, KV3.1, MEAK, dendrites, dendritopathy, development, potassium channels, progressive myoclonic epilepsy
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Department of Neuromuscular Diseases
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Neuro, Physiology and Pharmacology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10125006
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