Kir6.1- and SUR2-dependent KATP over-activity disrupts intestinal motility in murine models of Cantu Syndrome.
JCI Insight 2020;
5:141443. [PMID:
33170808 PMCID:
PMC7714409 DOI:
10.1172/jci.insight.141443]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Cantύ Syndrome (CS), caused by gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in pore-forming (Kir6.1, KCNJ8) and accessory (SUR2, ABCC9) ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel subunit genes, is frequently accompanied by gastrointestinal (GI) dysmotility, and we describe one CS patient who required an implanted intestinal irrigation system for successful stooling. We used gene-modified mice to assess the underlying KATP channel subunits in gut smooth muscle, and to model the consequences of altered KATP channels in CS gut. We show that Kir6.1/SUR2 subunits underlie smooth muscle KATP channels throughout the small intestine and colon. Knock-in mice, carrying human KCNJ8 and ABCC9 CS mutations in the endogenous loci, exhibit reduced intrinsic contractility throughout the intestine, resulting in death when weaned onto solid food in the most severely affected animals. Death is avoided by weaning onto a liquid gel diet, implicating intestinal insufficiency and bowel impaction as the underlying cause, and GI transit is normalized by treatment with the KATP inhibitor glibenclamide. We thus define the molecular basis of intestinal KATP channel activity, the mechanism by which overactivity results in GI insufficiency, and a viable approach to therapy.
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