DCas9-based Scn1a gene activation restores inhibitory interneuron excitability and restrains epileptic crises in Dravet syndrome mice
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PROVIDER: PRJNA436996 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
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Project description:Dravet syndrome (DS) is a severe epileptic encephalopathy caused by heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in the SCN1A gene, indicating a haploinsufficient genetic mechanism underlining this pathology. Here, we tested whether dCas9-mediated Scn1a gene activation could rescue Scn1a haploinsufficiency and restore physiological levels of its gene product, the Nav1.1 voltage-gated sodium channel. We screeened sgRNAs for their ability to stimulate Scn1a gene transcription in association with the dCas9 activation system. Interestingly, we identified one single sgRNA able to significantly increase Scn1a gene expression levels in cell lines as well as in primary neurons, with high specificity. Accordingly, levels of Nav1.1 protein were sufficiently augmented to potentiate firing ability of wild-type immature GABAergic interneurons. A similar effect in activating the Scn1a transcription was elicited in Dravet GABAergic interneurons rescuing their dysfunctional properties. To determine whether this approach could have therapeutic effect, we packaged adeno-associated viruses with the Scn1a-dCas9 activation system and showed their ability to ameliorate the febrile epileptic crises in DS mice. Our results pave the way for exploiting the dCas9-based gene activation as an effective and targeted approach to DS and other similar disorders resulting from altered gene dosage.
2019-03-05 | GSE111436 | GEO
Project description:Background: Genes with multiple co-active promoters appear common in brain, yet little is known about functional requirements for these potentially redundant genomic regulatory elements. SCN1A, which encodes the NaV1.1 sodium channel alpha subunit, is one such gene with two co-active promoters. Mutations in SCN1A are associated with epilepsy, including Dravet Syndrome (DS). The majority of DS patients harbor coding mutations causing SCN1A haploinsufficiency, however putative causal non-coding promoter mutations have been identified. Methods: To determine the functional role of one of these potentially redundant Scn1a promoters, we focused on the non-coding Scn1a 1b regulatory region, previously described as a non-canonical alternative transcriptional start site. We bred a transgenic mouse line with deletion of the extended evolutionarily-conserved 1b non-coding interval and characterized changes in gene and protein expression, and assessed seizure activity and alteration in behavior. Results: Mice harboring a deletion of the 1b non-coding interval exhibited surprisingly severe reductions of Scn1a and NaV1.1 expression throughout the brain. This was accompanied by electroencephalographic and thermal-evoked seizures, and some behavioral deficits. Conclusions: This work contributes to functional dissection of the regulatory wiring of a major epilepsy risk gene, SCN1A. We identified the 1b region as a critical disease-relevant regulatory element and provide evidence
2021-03-26 | GSE169481 | GEO
Project description:Background: Genes with multiple co-active promoters appear common in brain, yet little is known about functional requirements for these potentially redundant genomic regulatory elements. SCN1A, which encodes the NaV1.1 sodium channel alpha subunit, is one such gene with two co-active promoters. Mutations in SCN1A are associated with epilepsy, including Dravet Syndrome (DS). The majority of DS patients harbor coding mutations causing SCN1A haploinsufficiency, however putative causal non-coding promoter mutations have been identified. Methods: To determine the functional role of one of these potentially redundant Scn1a promoters, we focused on the non-coding Scn1a 1b regulatory region, previously described as a non-canonical alternative transcriptional start site. We bred a transgenic mouse line with deletion of the extended evolutionarily-conserved 1b non-coding interval and characterized changes in gene and protein expression, and assessed seizure activity and alteration in behavior. Results: Mice harboring a deletion of the 1b non-coding interval exhibited surprisingly severe reductions of Scn1a and NaV1.1 expression throughout the brain. This was accompanied by electroencephalographic and thermal-evoked seizures, and some behavioral deficits. Conclusions: This work contributes to functional dissection of the regulatory wiring of a major epilepsy risk gene, SCN1A. We identified the 1b region as a critical disease-relevant regulatory element and provide evidence
2021-03-26 | GSE169485 | GEO
Project description:Dravet Syndrome (DS) is a severe epileptic encephalopathy caused primarily by haploinsufficiency of the SCN1A gene. While different therapeutic strategies based on the upregulation of the healthy gene copy are being developed, repetitive seizures might lead to endurable and hardly treatable neural deficits. In fact, whether and to which extent this severe pathology is reversible after symptom onset remains unknown and the lack of this knowledge prevents the development of more effective therapies. We generated a novel Scn1a conditional knock-in mouse model (Scn1aStop) where Scn1a expression could be re-activated on-demand during the mouse lifetime. Scn1a gene disruption leads to the development of seizures, often associated with SUDEP and behavioral alterations including hyperactivity, social interaction deficits and cognitive impairment starting from the second/third week of age. However, we showed that Scn1a gene reconstitution when symptoms were already manifested (P30) led to a complete rescue of both spontaneous and thermic inducible seizures and marked amelioration of behavioral abnormalities. Normalization of firing of hippocampal parvalbumin interneurons was observed after reactivation of the Scn1a mutant allele. We also identified dramatic gene expression alterations associated with astrogliosis in DS mice, rescued by Scn1a gene expression normalization at P30. Interestingly, regaining of Nav1.1 physiological levels rescued epileptic seizures also in adult DS mice (P90) after months of repetitive seizure events. These results uncover the principles governing the reversibility of a severe epileptic encephalopathy as DS and they are central for accelerating therapeutic translation, providing key insights on the timing of delivery of the disease modifying therapies in DS.
2021-11-29 | GSE171191 | GEO
Project description:In this study we recapitulated in the mouse, an SCN1A mutation found in a human Dravet syndrome (DS) patient. The targeted mutation, NC_000068.7:g.66293870C>G (GRCm38.p6) lies in a highly conserved alternate poison exon (20N) of the mouse Scn1a. We performed molecular and behavioral analysis of Scn1a +/- mice and Scn1a +/+ littermate controls. We found that the mutation causes Scn1a mRNA and protein levels to be reduced by about 50% in brain compared to control mice. In addition, the Scn1a +/- mice exhibit behavioral phenotypes seen in previous DS model mice models. We performed qPCR and RNA-seq analysis of the brains of four Scn1a +/- mice and four Scn1a +/+ littermate controls. There was a ~50% reduction in Scn1a RNA-seq counts in Scn1a +/- mice. Our data provides evidence that the mutation causes increased inclusion of the poison exon 20N in Scn1a transcripts leading to nonsense mediated decay and reduction in protein levels.
2020-08-01 | GSE153461 | GEO
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC6952031 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI), or Dravet syndrome (DS), is a catastrophic pediatric epilepsy with severe intellectual disability, impaired social development, and persistent drug-resistant seizures. One of its primary monogenic causes is a mutation in SCN1A (Nav1.1), a type I voltage-gated sodium channel. In mice, Nav1.1 mutation is associated with reduced sodium current, altered interneuron firing, cognitive deficits, autistic-like traits and seizures. Here we describe a larval zebrafish Nav1.1 mutant that recapitulates salient features of the human SCN1A mutation phenotype. Between three and seven days post-fertilization, Nav1.1 mutants exhibit spontaneous abnormal electrographic activity, hyperactivity and convulsive behaviors. Transcriptomic analysis of Nav1.1 mutants was remarkable for the relatively small fraction of genes that were differentially expressed (~2%) and the lack of compensatory changes in expression for other SCN subunits. Pharmacological studies confirmed an antiepileptic action for the ketogenic diet, benzodiazepine, valproate, potassium bromide and stiripentol in Nav1.1 mutants; acetazolamide, phenytoin, ethosuximide had no effect, carbamazepine and vigabatrin made seizures worse. Using this mutant, we screened a chemical library of 320 compounds and identified four compounds that reduced spontaneous seizure-like behavior and one compound (clemizole) that inhibited convulsive behavior and electrographic seizures. Drug-resistant scn1a zebrafish mutants described here represent a new direction in modeling pediatric epilepsy and could be used to identify novel lead compounds for DS patients 4 Control sibling samples (sample= 10 pooled larvae) and 4 Nav1.1 mutants (sample= 10 pooled larvae) were collected at 6 dpf (days post fertilization). The Nav1.1 mutants were selected based on phenotype (dark color).
2014-01-04 | E-GEOD-43312 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Dravet syndrome is a severe, early-onset epileptic encephalopathy frequently resulting from de novo mutations of SCN1A. Mice with heterozygous deletion of Scn1a (Scn1a+/-) model many features of Dravet syndrome, including spontaneous seizures and premature lethality. Scn1a+/- mice exhibit variable phenotype penetrance and expressivity dependent upon the strain background. On the 129S6/SvEvTac (129) strain, Scn1a+/- mice do not display an overt phenotype. However Scn1a+/- mice on the [129S6xB6]F1 strain (F1.Scn1a+/-) exhibit juvenile-onset spontaneous seizures and premature lethality. QTL mapping identified several modifier loci responsible for strain-dependent differences in survival of Scn1a+/- mice, but these loci do not account for all the observed phenotypic variance. Global RNA-seq analysis was performed to identify additional genes and pathways that may contribute to variable phenotypes. Hippocampal gene expression was analyzed in wild-type (WT) and Scn1a+/- mice on both F1 and 129 strains, at two time points during disease development. There were few gene expression differences between 129.WT and 129. Scn1a+/- mice and approximately 100 genes with small expression differences (6-36%) between F1.WT and F1.Scn1a+/- mice. Strain-specific gene expression differences were more pronounced, with dozens of genes with >1.5-fold expression differences between 129 and F1 strains. Age-specific and seizure-related gene expression differences were most prominent, with hundreds of genes with >2-fold differences in expression were identified between groups with and without seizures, suggesting potential differences in developmental trajectory and/or homeostatic plasticity during disease onset. Global expression differences in the context of Scn1a deletion may account for strain-dependent variation in seizure susceptibility and survival observed in Scn1a+/- mice.
2018-10-26 | GSE112627 | GEO
Project description:Severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI), or Dravet syndrome (DS), is a catastrophic pediatric epilepsy with severe intellectual disability, impaired social development, and persistent drug-resistant seizures. One of its primary monogenic causes is a mutation in SCN1A (Nav1.1), a type I voltage-gated sodium channel. In mice, Nav1.1 mutation is associated with reduced sodium current, altered interneuron firing, cognitive deficits, autistic-like traits and seizures. Here we describe a larval zebrafish Nav1.1 mutant that recapitulates salient features of the human SCN1A mutation phenotype. Between three and seven days post-fertilization, Nav1.1 mutants exhibit spontaneous abnormal electrographic activity, hyperactivity and convulsive behaviors. Transcriptomic analysis of Nav1.1 mutants was remarkable for the relatively small fraction of genes that were differentially expressed (~2%) and the lack of compensatory changes in expression for other SCN subunits. Pharmacological studies confirmed an antiepileptic action for the ketogenic diet, benzodiazepine, valproate, potassium bromide and stiripentol in Nav1.1 mutants; acetazolamide, phenytoin, ethosuximide had no effect, carbamazepine and vigabatrin made seizures worse. Using this mutant, we screened a chemical library of 320 compounds and identified four compounds that reduced spontaneous seizure-like behavior and one compound (clemizole) that inhibited convulsive behavior and electrographic seizures. Drug-resistant scn1a zebrafish mutants described here represent a new direction in modeling pediatric epilepsy and could be used to identify novel lead compounds for DS patients
2014-01-04 | GSE43312 | GEO
Project description:Scn1b null mice are a model of a severe developmental and epileptic encephalopathy called Dravet Syndrome (DS). The goal of this study was to identify changes in gene expression between Scn1b wild-type and Scn1b null mice before seizure onset (postnatal day 10) in cortical layer VI, a region known to have differences in excitability in Scn1b null mice. RNA-Seq identified 21 genes, primarily extracellular matrix genes, which were differentially expressed between the two genotypes.
2019-03-21 | GSE128573 | GEO