Seizures Are Regulated by Ubiquitin-specific Peptidase 9 X-linked (USP9X), a De-Ubiquitinase

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Paemka, L; Mahajan, VB; Ehaideb, SN; Skeie, JM; Tan, MC; Wu, S; Cox, AJ; Sowers, LP; Gecz, J; Jolly, L; ...Date
2015-03-01Source Title
PLoS GeneticsPublisher
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCEAffiliation
Medicine and RadiologyMetadata
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Paemka, L., Mahajan, V. B., Ehaideb, S. N., Skeie, J. M., Tan, M. C., Wu, S., Cox, A. J., Sowers, L. P., Gecz, J., Jolly, L., Ferguson, P. J., Darbro, B., Schneider, A., Scheffer, I. E., Carvill, G. L., Mefford, H. C., El-Shanti, H., Wood, S. A., Manak, J. R. & Bassuk, A. G. (2015). Seizures Are Regulated by Ubiquitin-specific Peptidase 9 X-linked (USP9X), a De-Ubiquitinase. PLOS GENETICS, 11 (3), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1005022.Access Status
Open AccessAbstract
Epilepsy is a common disabling disease with complex, multifactorial genetic and environmental etiology. The small fraction of epilepsies subject to Mendelian inheritance offers key insight into epilepsy disease mechanisms; and pathologies brought on by mutations in a single gene can point the way to generalizable therapeutic strategies. Mutations in the PRICKLE genes can cause seizures in humans, zebrafish, mice, and flies, suggesting the seizure-suppression pathway is evolutionarily conserved. This pathway has never been targeted for novel anti-seizure treatments. Here, the mammalian PRICKLE-interactome was defined, identifying prickle-interacting proteins that localize to synapses and a novel interacting partner, USP9X, a substrate-specific de-ubiquitinase. PRICKLE and USP9X interact through their carboxy-termini; and USP9X de-ubiquitinates PRICKLE, protecting it from proteasomal degradation. In forebrain neurons of mice, USP9X deficiency reduced levels of Prickle2 protein. Genetic analysis suggests the same pathway regulates Prickle-mediated seizures. The seizure phenotype was suppressed in prickle mutant flies by the small-molecule USP9X inhibitor, Degrasyn/WP1130, or by reducing the dose of fat facets a USP9X orthologue. USP9X mutations were identified by resequencing a cohort of patients with epileptic encephalopathy, one patient harbored a de novo missense mutation and another a novel coding mutation. Both USP9X variants were outside the PRICKLE-interacting domain. These findings demonstrate that USP9X inhibition can suppress prickle-mediated seizure activity, and that USP9X variants may predispose to seizures. These studies point to a new target for anti-seizure therapy and illustrate the translational power of studying diseases in species across the evolutionary spectrum.
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