Alternative ion channel splicing in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease - PubMed (original) (raw)

Alternative ion channel splicing in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease

Erin L Heinzen et al. Genome Biol. 2007.

Abstract

Background: Alternative gene transcript splicing permits a single gene to produce multiple proteins with varied functions. Bioinformatic investigations have identified numerous splice variants, but whether these transcripts are translated to functional proteins and the physiological significance of these alternative proteins are largely unknown. Through direct identification of splice variants associated with disease states, we can begin to address these questions and to elucidate their roles in disease predisposition and pathophysiology. This work specifically sought to identify disease-associated alternative splicing patterns in ion channel genes by comprehensively screening affected brain tissue collected from patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. New technology permitting the screening of alternative splice variants in microarray format was employed. Real time quantitative PCR was used to verify observed splice variant patterns.

Results: This work shows for the first time that two common neurological conditions are associated with extensive changes in gene splicing, with 25% and 12% of the genes considered having significant changes in splicing patterns associated with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease, respectively. Furthermore, these changes were found to exhibit unique and consistent patterns within the disease groups.

Conclusion: This work has identified a set of disease-associated, alternatively spliced gene products that represent high priorities for detailed functional investigations into how these changes impact the pathophysiology of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.

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Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Representative mTLE-associated alternative splicing event identified using splice array technology. (a) Schematic of CLCN7 alternative splicing event associated with mTLE. Exons are shown in orange and intronic regions are shown in gray. (b) Data collected for the CLCN7 alternative splice event in control and mTLE brain tissue samples using the splice array technology (left) and quantitative rtPCR (qrtPCR, right). Data are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean; *p < 0.05 when compared to control, Student's _t_-test. (c) rtPCR confirmation of the pattern of transcript expression in brain tissue collected from ten subjects from each group. Both reference and variant transcript forms were amplified using the following primer sequences (indicated in the figure by arrows above mRNA transcripts): CLCN7F-GGCAAATACGCCCTGATG, CLCN7R-CTCAGCACGTCCACAATGAC.

Figure 2

Figure 2

Representative AD-associated alternative splicing event identified using splice array technology. (a) Schematic of GABRA6 alternative splicing event associated with mTLE. Exons are shown in orange and intronic regions are shown in gray. (b) Data collected for the GABRA6 alternative splice event in control and AD brain tissue (TC and CB) samples using the splice array technology (left) and quantitative rtPCR (qrtPCR, right). Data are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean; *p < 0.05 when compared to control, Student's _t_-test. (c) rtPCR confirmation of the pattern of transcript expression in brain tissue collected from ten subjects from each group. Reference and variant transcript forms were amplified using the following primer sequences (indicated in the figure by arrows above mRNA transcripts): reference GABRA6F-AAGAATCTTCAAGCCTTCTCCA, GABRA6R-TGACAGCTGCGAACTCGATA, variant GABRA6F-AAGAATCTTCAAGCCTTCTCCA, GABRA6F-TCCAAGATTACACAAATCTTTATATGC.

Figure 3

Figure 3

Principal component analysis of ion channel splice variant expression patterns for all experimental groups. (a) Colors separate groups based on statistical clustering (k-means clustering) of individuals with similar patterns of ion channel splicing. (b) Colors separate groups based on disease state and brain structure: control TC (blue), mTLE NC (red), AD TC (green), control CB (black), AD CB (yellow). The first principal component explains 43% of the variation in log expression ratios, while the second principal component accounts for 13% of the variation. Separation of clusters along principal components 1 and 2 is, to a large extent, governed by brain structure and disease state.

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