Publication
Title
A recurrent missense variant in AP2M1 impairs clathrin-mediated endocytosis and causes developmental and epileptic encephalopathy
Author
Institution/Organisation
EuroEPINOMICS-RES Consortium
GRIN Consortium
Abstract
The developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs) are heterogeneous disorders with a strong genetic contribution, but the underlying genetic etiology remains unknown in a significant proportion of individuals. To explore whether statistical support for genetic etiologies can be generated on the basis of phenotypic features, we analyzed whole-exome sequencing data and phenotypic similarities by using Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) in 314 individuals with DEEs. We identified a de novo c.508C>T (p.Arg170Trp) variant in AP2M1 in two individuals with a phenotypic similarity that was higher than expected by chance (p = 0.003) and a phenotype related to epilepsy with myoclonic-atonic seizures. We subsequently found the same de novo variant in two individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and generalized epilepsy in a cohort of 2,310 individuals who underwent diagnostic whole-exome sequencing. AP2M1 encodes the μ-subunit of the adaptor protein complex 2 (AP-2), which is involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) and synaptic vesicle recycling. Modeling of protein dynamics indicated that the p.Arg170Trp variant impairs the conformational activation and thermodynamic entropy of the AP-2 complex. Functional complementation of both the μ-subunit carrying the p.Arg170Trp variant in human cells and astrocytes derived from AP-2μ conditional knockout mice revealed a significant impairment of CME of transferrin. In contrast, stability, expression levels, membrane recruitment, and localization were not impaired, suggesting a functional alteration of the AP-2 complex as the underlying disease mechanism. We establish a recurrent pathogenic variant in AP2M1 as a cause of DEEs with distinct phenotypic features, and we implicate dysfunction of the early steps of endocytosis as a disease mechanism in epilepsy.
Language
English
Source (journal)
The American journal of human genetics / American Society of Human Genetics [Bethesda, Md] - New York, N.Y., 1949, currens
Publication
New York, N.Y. : 2019
ISSN
0002-9297 [print]
1537-6605 [online]
DOI
10.1016/J.AJHG.2019.04.001
Volume/pages
104 :6 (2019) , p. 1060-1072
ISI
000470240000004
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Allele-specific silencing of mutant KCNQ2 as a targeted treatment for KCNQ2 encephalopathy: an in vitro proof of concept study.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 05.12.2019
Last edited 28.08.2024
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