Probable dysfunction of GABA-A receptors in patients with GNAO1-related syndromes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2021.11.12.018Keywords
GNAO1 protein, human, Infantile Epileptic-Dyskinetic Encephalopathy, Treatment Outcome, Synaptic TransmissionAbstract
Introduction and purpose: Wide range of phenotypic spectrum of GNAO1-related syndromes includes developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) and a range of movement disorders (MDs) with or without epilepsy. Above clinical symptoms are associated with disturbances in presynaptic auto-inhibitory effect of several neurotransmitters on their receptors (M2/M4 muscarinic, α2-adrenergic, μ/δ opioid, GABA-B). Here, we analyse the phenotype-genotype correlations in patients with GNAO1-related disorders, focusing on clinical signs associated with neurotransmission disturbances.
Material and methods: Clinical course of disease was evaluated in two patients of Polish origin with GNAO1-related syndromes. The diagnosis in all cases was establish on the basis of whole exome sequencing (WES) analysis on Illumina platform. All variants in GNAO1 gene occurred de novo (negative parental testing).
Results: In the first patient clinically presenting symptoms of DEE the gain-of-function (GOF) (c.607G>A) variant of GNAO1 gene
was identified. In this patient MDs (combination of choreathetosis and focal dystonia) co-existed with seizures. In the second patient the same combination of MDs, but without epilepsy, were caused by the pathogenic variant of unknown function (c.709G>A). In both patients significant hypersensitivity to higher doses of benzodiazepines and in the second patient also to higher doses of baclofen was noticed. In the first patient early onset of DEE (2 weeks of age) with good response of seizures to vigabatrin treatment was observed, with further development of startle response from 3 years of age with paradoxical reaction to clonazepam treatment.
Conclusions: In our patients with GNAO1-related neurodevelopmental disorders we identified some drug responses or hypersensitivities which could be indicative for functional disturbances not only of GABA-B, but also GABA-A receptors. Further functional studies are needed.
References
Nakamura K, Kodera H, Akita T, Shiina M, Kato M, Hoshino H, et al. De Novo Mutations in GNAO1, Encoding a G alpha(o) Subunit of Heterotrimeric G Proteins, Cause Epileptic Encephalopathy. Am J Hum Genet. 2013;93(3):496-505. doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.07.014
Schirinzi T, Garone G, Travaglini L, Vasco G, Galosi S, Rios L, et al. Phenomenology and clinical course of movement disorder in GNAO1 variants: Results from an analytical review. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2019;61:19-25. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2018.11.019.
Jiang MS, Gold MS, Boulay G, Spicher K, Peyton M, Brabet P, et al. Multiple neurological abnormalities in mice deficient in the G protein G(o). Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1998;95(6):3269-3274. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.6.3269.
Law C-Y, Chang ST-L, Cho SY, Yau EK-C, Ng GS-F, Fong N-C, et al. Clinical whole-exome sequencing reveals a novel missense pathogenic variant of GNAO1 in a patient with infantile-onset epilepsy. Clin Chim Acta. 2015;451(Part B):292-296. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2015.10.011.
Ananth AL, Robichaux-Viehoever A, Kim YM, Hanson-Kahn A, Cox R, Enns GM, et al. Clinical Course of Six Children With GNAO1 Mutations Causing a Severe and Distinctive Movement Disorder. Pediatr Neurol. 2016;59:81-84. doi: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2016.02.018.
Garcia-Marcos M, Ghosh P, Farquhar MG. Molecular Basis of a Novel Oncogenic Mutation in GNAO1. Oncogene. 2011;30(23):2691-2696. doi: 10.1038/onc.2010.645.
Pei X, Zhang J, Wu L, Lü B, Zhang X, Yang D, et al. The down-regulation of GNAO1 and its promoting role in hepatocellular carcinoma. Biosci Rep. 2013;33(5):e00069. doi: 10.1042/BSR20130001.
Danti FR, Galosi S, Romani M, Montomoli M, Carss KJ, Raymond FL, et al. GNAO1 encephalopathy: Broadening the phenotype and evaluating treatment and outcome. Neurol Genet. 2017;3(2):e143. doi: 10.1212/NXG.0000000000000143.
den Dunnen JT, Dalgleish R, Maglott DR, Hart RK, Greenblatt MS, McGowan-Jordan J, et al. HGVS Recommendations for the Description of Sequence Variants: 2016 Update. Hum Mutat. 2016;37(6):564-569. doi: 10.1002/humu.22981.
Okumura A, Maruyama K, Shibata M, Kurahashi H, Ishii A, Numoto S, et al. A patient with a GNAO1 mutation with decreased spontaneous movements, hypotonia, and dystonic features. Brain Dev. 2018;40(10):926-930. doi: 10.1016/j.braindev.2018.06.005.
Ryan SG, Sherman SL, Terry JC, Sparkes RS, Torres MC, Mackey RW. Startle disease, or hyperekplexia: response to clonazepam and assignment of the gene (STHE) to chromosome 5q by linkage analysis. Ann Neurol. 1992;31(6):663-668. doi: 10.1002/ana.410310615.
Holz GG, Rane SG, Dunlap K. GTP-binding proteins mediate transmitter inhibition of voltage-dependent calcium channels. Nature. 1986;319(6055):670-672. doi: 10.1038/319670a0.
Rosenbaum DM, Rasmussen SGF, Kobilka BK. The structure and function of G-protein-coupled receptors. Nature. 2009;459(7245):356-363. doi: 10.1038/nature08144.
Bounds CG, Nelson VL. Benzodiazepines. [Updated 2020 Nov 22]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470159/. (dostęp 2021.12.19).
Arya R, Spaeth C, Gilbert DL, Leach JL, Holland KD. GNAO1-associated epileptic encephalopathy and movement disorders: c.607G> A variant represents a probable mutation hotspot with a distinct phenotype. Epileptic Disord. 2017;19(1):67-75. doi: 10.1684/epd.2017.0888.
Saitsu H, Fukai R, Ben-Zeev B, Sakai Y, Mimaki M, Okamoto N, et al. Phenotypic spectrum of GNAO1 variants: epileptic encephalopathy to involuntary movements with severe developmental delay. Eur J Hum Genet. 2016;24(1):129-134. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2015.92.
Ben-Menachem E. Mechanism of action of vigabatrin: correcting misperceptions. Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 2011(192):5-15. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2011.01596.x.
Appenzeller S, Balling R, Barisic N, Baulac S, Caglayan H, Craiu D, et al. De Novo Mutations in Synaptic Transmission Genes Including DNM1 Cause Epileptic Encephalopathies. Am J Hum Genet.100(1):179. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.12.012.
Kasaragod VB, Schindelin H. Structure-Function Relationships of Glycine and GABA. Front Mol Neurosci. 2018;11:317. doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2018.00317.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Małgorzata Pawłowicz

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The periodical offers access to content in the Open Access system under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 882
Number of citations: 0