1. MARK2 variants cause autism spectrum disorder via the downregulation of WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway.
- Author
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Gong M, Li J, Qin Z, Machado Bressan Wilke MV, Liu Y, Li Q, Liu H, Liang C, Morales-Rosado JA, Cohen ASA, Hughes SS, Sullivan BR, Waddell V, van den Boogaard MH, van Jaarsveld RH, van Binsbergen E, van Gassen KL, Wang T, Hiatt SM, Amaral MD, Kelley WV, Zhao J, Feng W, Ren C, Yu Y, Boczek NJ, Ferber MJ, Lahner C, Elliott S, Ruan Y, Mignot C, Keren B, Xie H, Wang X, Popp B, Zweier C, Piard J, Coubes C, Mau-Them FT, Safraou H, Innes AM, Gauthier J, Michaud JL, Koboldt DC, Sylvie O, Willems M, Tan WH, Cogne B, Rieubland C, Braun D, McLean SD, Platzer K, Zacher P, Oppermann H, Evenepoel L, Blanc P, El Khattabi L, Haque N, Dsouza NR, Zimmermann MT, Urrutia R, Klee EW, Shen Y, Du H, Rappaport L, Liu CM, and Chen X
- Subjects
- Humans, Animals, Mice, Female, Male, Child, Down-Regulation genetics, Neural Stem Cells metabolism, Child, Preschool, beta Catenin metabolism, beta Catenin genetics, Adolescent, Cell Differentiation genetics, Neurons metabolism, Autism Spectrum Disorder genetics, Autism Spectrum Disorder metabolism, Wnt Signaling Pathway genetics, Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases genetics, Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases metabolism, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells metabolism
- Abstract
Microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 2 (MARK2) contributes to establishing neuronal polarity and developing dendritic spines. Although large-scale sequencing studies have associated MARK2 variants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the clinical features and variant spectrum in affected individuals with MARK2 variants, early developmental phenotypes in mutant human neurons, and the pathogenic mechanism underlying effects on neuronal development have remained unclear. Here, we report 31 individuals with MARK2 variants and presenting with ASD, other neurodevelopmental disorders, and distinctive facial features. Loss-of-function (LoF) variants predominate (81%) in affected individuals, while computational analysis and in vitro expression assay of missense variants supported the effect of MARK2 loss. Using proband-derived and CRISPR-engineered isogenic induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), we show that MARK2 loss leads to early neuronal developmental and functional deficits, including anomalous polarity and dis-organization in neural rosettes, as well as imbalanced proliferation and differentiation in neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Mark2
+/- mice showed abnormal cortical formation and partition and ASD-like behavior. Through the use of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and lithium treatment, we link MARK2 loss to downregulation of the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway and identify lithium as a potential drug for treating MARK2-associated ASD., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)- Published
- 2024
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