Establishment of isogenic iPSCs from an individual with SCN1A mutation mosaicism as a model for investigating neurocognitive impairment in Dravet syndrome

J Hum Genet. 2016 Jun;61(6):565-9. doi: 10.1038/jhg.2016.5. Epub 2016 Feb 4.

Abstract

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a severe childhood epilepsy typically caused by de novo dominant mutations in SCN1A. Although patients with DS frequently have neurocognitive abnormalities, the precise neural mechanisms responsible for their expression have not been elucidated. There are wide phenotypic differences among individuals with SCN1A mutations, suggesting that factors other than the SCN1A mutation modify the phenotype. Therefore, a well-controlled cellular model system is required to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying DS. Here we generated induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from an individual with SCN1A mutation mosaicism, and separately cloned iPSC lines both with and without the SCN1A mutation. These clones theoretically have the same genetic backgrounds, except for the SCN1A gene, and should serve as an ideal pair for investigating the pathophysiology caused by SCN1A mutations. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and western blot analysis revealed higher tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA and protein expression levels in mutant neurons than in wild-type neurons. Moreover, dopamine concentrations in media collected from mutant neural cultures were higher than those from wild-type neural cultures. Our findings suggest that SCN1A mutation leads to changes in the dopamine system that may contribute to the behavioral abnormalities in DS.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / genetics*
  • DNA Mutational Analysis
  • Dopamine / metabolism
  • Epilepsies, Myoclonic / diagnosis*
  • Epilepsies, Myoclonic / genetics*
  • Epilepsies, Myoclonic / metabolism
  • Gene Expression
  • Genetic Association Studies*
  • Humans
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / cytology
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • Karyotype
  • Male
  • Mosaicism*
  • Mutation*
  • NAV1.1 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel / genetics*
  • Neurons / cytology
  • Neurons / metabolism
  • Pedigree
  • Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / genetics
  • Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / metabolism

Substances

  • NAV1.1 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel
  • Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
  • Dopamine