1
|
Romano F, Haanpää MK, Pomianowski P, Peraino AR, Pollard JR, Di Feo MF, Traverso M, Severino M, Derchi M, Henzen E, Zara F, Faravelli F, Capra V, Scala M. Expanding the phenotype of UPF3B-related disorder: Case reports and literature review. Am J Med Genet A 2024; 194:e63534. [PMID: 38318947 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.63534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
UPF3B encodes the Regulator of nonsense transcripts 3B protein, a core-member of the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway, protecting the cells from the potentially deleterious actions of transcripts with premature termination codons. Hemizygous variants in the UPF3B gene cause a spectrum of neuropsychiatric issues including intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and schizophrenia/childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS). The number of patients reported to date is very limited, often lacking an extensive phenotypical and neuroradiological description of this ultra-rare syndrome. Here we report three subjects harboring UPF3B variants, presenting with variable clinical pictures, including cognitive impairment, central hypotonia, and syndromic features. Patients 1 and 2 harbored novel UPF3B variants-the p.(Lys207*) and p.(Asp429Serfs*27) ones, respectively-while the p.(Arg225Lysfs*229) variant, identified in Patient 3, was already reported in the literature. Novel features in our patients are represented by microcephaly, midface hypoplasia, and brain malformations. Then, we reviewed pertinent literature and compared previously reported subjects to our cases, providing possible insights into genotype-phenotype correlations in this emerging condition. Overall, the detailed phenotypic description of three patients carrying UPF3B variants is useful not only to expand the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of UPF3B-related disorders, but also to ameliorate the clinical management of affected individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ferruccio Romano
- Clinical Genomics and Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
| | - Maria K Haanpää
- Department of Genomics and Clinical Genetics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Pawel Pomianowski
- Center for Medical Genetics and Genomics, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Amanda Rose Peraino
- Center for Medical Genetics and Genomics, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - John R Pollard
- Epilepsy Center, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Maria Francesca Di Feo
- Clinical Genomics and Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Genomics and Clinical Genetics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Center for Medical Genetics and Genomics, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware, USA
- Epilepsy Center, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Delaware, USA
- Medical Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
| | - Monica Traverso
- Medical Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | | | - Maria Derchi
- Cardiology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
| | - Edoardo Henzen
- Genomics Facility, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Genoa, Italy
| | - Federico Zara
- Medical Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Francesca Faravelli
- Clinical Genomics and Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
| | - Valeria Capra
- Clinical Genomics and Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marcello Scala
- Medical Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Rahmati M, Chebli J, Kumar Banote R, Roselli S, Agholme L, Zetterberg H, Abramsson A. Fine-Tuning Amyloid Precursor Protein Expression through Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0034-24.2024. [PMID: 38789273 PMCID: PMC11164851 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0034-24.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Studies on genetic robustness recently revealed transcriptional adaptation (TA) as a mechanism by which an organism can compensate for genetic mutations through activation of homologous genes. Here, we discovered that genetic mutations, introducing a premature termination codon (PTC) in the amyloid precursor protein-b (appb) gene, activated TA of two other app family members, appa and amyloid precursor-like protein-2 (aplp2), in zebrafish. The observed transcriptional response of appa and aplp2 required degradation of mutant mRNA and did not depend on Appb protein level. Furthermore, TA between amyloid precursor protein (APP) family members was observed in human neuronal progenitor cells; however, compensation was only present during early neuronal differentiation and could not be detected in a more differentiated neuronal stage or adult zebrafish brain. Using knockdown and chemical inhibition, we showed that nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is involved in degradation of mutant mRNA and that Upf1 and Upf2, key proteins in the NMD pathway, regulate the endogenous transcript levels of appa, appb, aplp1, and aplp2 In conclusion, our results suggest that the expression level of App family members is regulated by the NMD pathway and that mutations destabilizing app/APP mRNA can induce genetic compensation by other family members through TA in both zebrafish and human neuronal progenitors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Rahmati
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 413 45, Sweden
| | - Jasmine Chebli
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 413 45, Sweden
| | - Rakesh Kumar Banote
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 413 45, Sweden
| | - Sandra Roselli
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 413 45, Sweden
| | - Lotta Agholme
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 413 45, Sweden
| | - Henrik Zetterberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 413 45, Sweden
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N #BG, United Kingdom
- Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal 431 41, Sweden
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute, London W1T 7NF, United Kingdom
- Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, 17 Science Park W Ave, Hong Kong, China
- Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53792
| | - Alexandra Abramsson
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 413 45, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Colón EM, Haddock LA, Lasalde C, Lin Q, Ramírez-Lugo JS, González CI. Characterization of the mIF4G Domains in the RNA Surveillance Protein Upf2p. Curr Issues Mol Biol 2023; 46:244-261. [PMID: 38248319 PMCID: PMC10814901 DOI: 10.3390/cimb46010017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Thirty percent of all mutations causing human disease generate mRNAs with premature termination codons (PTCs). Recognition and degradation of these PTC-containing mRNAs is carried out by the mechanism known as nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). Upf2 is a scaffold protein known to be a central component of the NMD surveillance pathway. It harbors three middle domains of eukaryotic initiation factor 4G (mIF4G-1, mIF4G-2, mIF4G-3) in its N-terminal region that are potentially important in regulating the surveillance pathway. In this study, we defined regions within the mIF4G-1 and mIF4G-2 that are required for proper function of Upf2p in NMD and translation termination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In addition, we narrowed down the activity of these regions to an aspartic acid (D59) in mIF4G-1 that is important for NMD activity and translation termination accuracy. Taken together, these studies suggest that inherently charged residues within mIF4G-1 of Upf2p play a role in the regulation of the NMD surveillance mechanism in S. cerevisiae.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Edgardo M. Colón
- Department of Biology, Río Piedras Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00931, USA (C.L.); (J.S.R.-L.)
- Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA
| | - Luis A. Haddock
- Department of Biology, Río Piedras Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00931, USA (C.L.); (J.S.R.-L.)
- Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA
| | - Clarivel Lasalde
- Department of Biology, Río Piedras Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00931, USA (C.L.); (J.S.R.-L.)
| | - Qishan Lin
- Department of Chemistry, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, USA;
- RNA Epitranscriptomics and Proteomics Resource, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, USA
| | - Juan S. Ramírez-Lugo
- Department of Biology, Río Piedras Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00931, USA (C.L.); (J.S.R.-L.)
| | - Carlos I. González
- Department of Biology, Río Piedras Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00931, USA (C.L.); (J.S.R.-L.)
- Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Monaghan L, Longman D, Cáceres JF. Translation-coupled mRNA quality control mechanisms. EMBO J 2023; 42:e114378. [PMID: 37605642 PMCID: PMC10548175 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2023114378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023] Open
Abstract
mRNA surveillance pathways are essential for accurate gene expression and to maintain translation homeostasis, ensuring the production of fully functional proteins. Future insights into mRNA quality control pathways will enable us to understand how cellular mRNA levels are controlled, how defective or unwanted mRNAs can be eliminated, and how dysregulation of these can contribute to human disease. Here we review translation-coupled mRNA quality control mechanisms, including the non-stop and no-go mRNA decay pathways, describing their mechanisms, shared trans-acting factors, and differences. We also describe advances in our understanding of the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway, highlighting recent mechanistic findings, the discovery of novel factors, as well as the role of NMD in cellular physiology and its impact on human disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura Monaghan
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and CancerUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
| | - Dasa Longman
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and CancerUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
| | - Javier F Cáceres
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and CancerUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Petrić Howe M, Patani R. Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in neuronal physiology and neurodegeneration. Trends Neurosci 2023; 46:879-892. [PMID: 37543480 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2023.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/09/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2023]
Abstract
The processes of mRNA export from the nucleus and subsequent mRNA translation in the cytoplasm are of particular relevance in eukaryotic cells. In highly polarised cells such as neurons, finely-tuned molecular regulation of these processes serves to safeguard the spatiotemporal fidelity of gene expression. Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a cytoplasmic translation-dependent quality control process that regulates gene expression in a wide range of scenarios in the nervous system, including neurodevelopment, learning, and memory formation. Moreover, NMD dysregulation has been implicated in a broad range of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. We discuss how NMD and related aspects of mRNA translation regulate key neuronal functions and, in particular, we focus on evidence implicating these processes in the molecular pathogenesis of neurodegeneration. Finally, we discuss the therapeutic potential and challenges of targeting mRNA translation and NMD across the spectrum of largely untreatable neurological diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marija Petrić Howe
- The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT, UK; Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London (UCL), Queen Square, WC1N 3BG London, UK.
| | - Rickie Patani
- The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT, UK; Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London (UCL), Queen Square, WC1N 3BG London, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Chen C, Shen Y, Li L, Ren Y, Wang ZQ, Li T. UPF3A is dispensable for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in mouse pluripotent and somatic cells. Life Sci Alliance 2023; 6:e202201589. [PMID: 36997282 PMCID: PMC10070813 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202201589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a highly conserved regulatory mechanism of post-transcriptional gene expression in eukaryotic cells. NMD plays essential roles in mRNA quality and quantity control and thus safeguards multiple biological processes including embryonic stem cell differentiation and organogenesis. UPF3A and UPF3B in vertebrate species, originated from a single UPF3 gene in yeast, are key factors in the NMD machinery. Although UPF3B is a well-recognized weak NMD-promoting factor, whether UPF3A functions in promoting or suppressing NMD is under debate. In this study, we generated a Upf3a conditional knockout mouse strain and established multiple lines of embryonic stem cells and somatic cells without UPF3A. Through extensive analysis on the expressions of 33 NMD targets, we found UPF3A neither represses NMD in mouse embryonic stem cells, somatic cells, nor in major organs including the liver, spleen, and thymus. Our study reinforces that UPF3A is dispensable for NMD when UPF3B is present. Furthermore, UPF3A may weakly and selectively promote NMD in certain murine organs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chengyan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Yanmin Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Luqian Li
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Yaoxin Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Zhao-Qi Wang
- Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute, Jena, Germany
| | - Tangliang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Sun L, Mailliot J, Schaffitzel C. Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay Factor Functions in Human Health and Disease. Biomedicines 2023; 11:722. [PMID: 36979701 PMCID: PMC10045457 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11030722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a cellular surveillance mechanism that degrades mRNAs with a premature stop codon, avoiding the synthesis of C-terminally truncated proteins. In addition to faulty mRNAs, NMD recognises ~10% of endogenous transcripts in human cells and downregulates their expression. The up-frameshift proteins are core NMD factors and are conserved from yeast to human in structure and function. In mammals, NMD diversified into different pathways that target different mRNAs employing additional NMD factors. Here, we review our current understanding of molecular mechanisms and cellular roles of NMD pathways and the involvement of more specialised NMD factors. We describe the consequences of mutations in NMD factors leading to neurodevelopmental diseases, and the role of NMD in cancer. We highlight strategies of RNA viruses to evade recognition and decay by the NMD machinery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lingling Sun
- School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Justine Mailliot
- School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Christiane Schaffitzel
- School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK
- Bristol Engineering Biology Centre BrisEngBio, 24 Tyndall Ave, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| |
Collapse
|