0000000000471310
AUTHOR
Francesco Miceli
Hyperekplexia caused by dominant-negative suppression of glyra1 function.
Hyperekplexia (HE; startle disease; OMIM#149400) is a rare inheritable neurologic disorder characterized by an exaggerated response to sudden stimuli, muscular rigidity, and hyperreflexia, leading to chronic injuries due to unprotected falls. All symptoms are present at birth but gradually decline during the first year of life, although an exaggerated startle response remains during adulthood.1 Dysfunctional inhibitory neurotransmission by glycine (Gly) plays a central role in HE pathogenesis. All patients with HE carry mutations in genes encoding either for α1 (GLYRA1) or β (GLYRB) Gly receptor subunits, presynaptic Gly transporters (SLC6A5), or proteins involved in Gly receptor (GLYR) clu…
A novel KCNQ3 mutation in familial epilepsy with focal seizures and intellectual disability
Mutations in the KCNQ2 gene encoding for voltage-gated potassium channel subunits have been found in patients affected with early onset epilepsies with wide phenotypic heterogeneity, ranging from benign familial neonatal seizures (BFNS) to epileptic encephalopathy with cognitive impairment, drug resistance, and characteristic electroencephalography (EEG) and neuroradiologic features. By contrast, only few KCNQ3 mutations have been rarely described, mostly in patients with typical BFNS. We report clinical, genetic, and functional data from a family in which early onset epilepsy and neurocognitive deficits segregated with a novel mutation in KCNQ3 (c.989G>T; p.R330L). Electrophysiological stu…
Generation of an iPSC line (UNINAi001-A) from a girl with neonatal-onset epilepsy and non-syndromic intellectual disability carrying the homozygous KCNQ3 p.PHE534ILEfs*15 variant and of an iPSC line (UNINAi002-A) from a non-carrier, unaffected brother
Abstract Heterozygous variants in the KCNQ3 gene cause epileptic and/or developmental disorders of varying severity. Here we describe the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from a 9-year-old girl with pharmacodependent neonatal-onset epilepsy and intellectual disability who carry a homozygous single-base duplication in exon 12 of KCNQ3 (NM_004519.3: KCNQ3 c.1599dup; KCNQ3 p.PHE534ILEfs*15), and from a non-carrier brother of the proband. For iPSC generation, non-integrating episomal plasmid vectors were used to transfect fibroblasts isolated from skin biopsies. The obtained iPSC lines had a normal karyotype, showed embryonic stem cell-like morphology, expressed pluripotency…
Benign familial infantile epilepsy associated with KCNQ3 mutation: a rare occurrence or an underestimated event?
Abstract Benign familial infantile epilepsy (BFIE) is the most genetically heterogeneous phenotype among early-onset familial infantile epilepsies. It has an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern with incomplete penetrance. Although PRRT2 is the most mutated gene detected in families with BFIE, other mutations in KCNQ2, SCN2A, and GABRA6 genes have also been described. To date, KCNQ3 mutations have been detected in only four patients with BFIE. Here, we describe the clinical pattern and course of an additional individual with BFIE associated with a novel missense heterozygous KCNQ3 c.1850G>C variant inherited by his unaffected father. The incidence of KCNQ3 mutations among BFIE patients…