Heterozygous and homozygous variants in STX1A cause a neurodevelopmental disorder with or without epilepsy.

The neuronal SNARE complex drives synaptic vesicle exocytosis. Therefore, one of its core proteins syntaxin 1A (STX1A) has long been suspected to play a role in neurodevelopmental disorders. We assembled eight individuals harboring ultra rare variants in STX1A who present with a spectrum of intellectual disability, autism and epilepsy. Causative variants comprise a homozygous splice variant, three de novo missense variants and two inframe deletions of a single amino acid. We observed a phenotype mainly driven by epilepsy in the individuals with missense variants in contrast to intellectual disability and autistic behavior in individuals with single amino acid deletions and the splicing variant. In silico modeling of missense variants and single amino acid deletions show different impaired protein-protein interactions. We hypothesize the two phenotypic courses of affected individuals to be dependent on two different pathogenic mechanisms: (1) a weakened inhibitory STX1A-STXBP1 interaction due to missense variants results in an STX1A-related developmental epileptic encephalopathy and (2) a hampered SNARE complex formation due to inframe deletions causes an STX1A-related intellectual disability and autism phenotype. Our description of a STX1A-related neurodevelopmental disorder with or without epilepsy thus expands the group of rare diseases called SNAREopathies.

Cloning Gene Variants and Reporter Assays.

Recent advances have identified new genetic markers associated with the inheritance of celiac disease. These non-HLA target regions remain to be fully categorized. Investigation of associated SNPs indicates that the causal variants may alter specific gene expression. Thus, closer examination of potential causal variants found within regulatory regions could provide data relating to the mechanistic association. Molecular cloning is an established fundamental tool that enables investigators to examine the differential potential at a variant site. In conjunction with reporter gene assays, SNPs affecting gene expression can be uncovered and contribute to our understanding of the underlying pathogenic mechanisms. This chapter outlines the protocols necessary to clone risk variants and transfect these constructs into a T cell line for reporter assay analysis.

Candidate Gene Knockdown in Celiac Disease.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful genetic tool that has created new opportunities in cell biology by allowing the specific modulation of gene expression under controlled conditions. Knockdown of genes associated with disease can provide valuable information pertaining to their function and potentially their role in the disease etiology. In the context of celiac disease, it allows us to examine closely the cellular changes that occur when the expression levels of genes of interest are reduced. Utilizing informative assays that demonstrate changes in cell behavior or other measurable endpoints such as cytokine production or migratory phenotypes can further our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms in this prevalent autoimmune disorder. This chapter outlines protocols for examining the effects of RNAi on candidate genes and subsequent changes to migratory phenotype, transmigration, and adhesion.

Transcriptome Analysis of CD4+ T Cells in Coeliac Disease Reveals Imprint of BACH2 and IFNγ Regulation.

Genetic studies have to date identified 43 genome wide significant coeliac disease susceptibility (CD) loci comprising over 70 candidate genes. However, how altered regulation of such disease associated genes contributes to CD pathogenesis remains to be elucidated. Recently there has been considerable emphasis on characterising cell type specific and stimulus dependent genetic variants. Therefore in this study we used RNA sequencing to profile over 70 transcriptomes of CD4+ T cells, a cell type crucial for CD pathogenesis, in both stimulated and resting samples from individuals with CD and unaffected controls. We identified extensive transcriptional changes across all conditions, with the previously established CD gene IFNy the most strongly up-regulated gene (log2 fold change 4.6; P(adjusted) = 2.40x10(-11)) in CD4+ T cells from CD patients compared to controls. We show a significant correlation of differentially expressed genes with genetic studies of the disease to date (P(adjusted) = 0.002), and 21 CD candidate susceptibility genes are differentially expressed under one or more of the conditions used in this study. Pathway analysis revealed significant enrichment of immune related processes. Co-expression network analysis identified several modules of coordinately expressed CD genes. Two modules were particularly highly enriched for differentially expressed genes (P<2.2x10(-16)) and highlighted IFNy and the genetically associated transcription factor BACH2 which showed significantly reduced expression in coeliac samples (log2FC -1.75; P(adjusted) = 3.6x10(-3)) as key regulatory genes in CD. Genes regulated by BACH2 were very significantly over-represented among our differentially expressed genes (P<2.2x10(-16)) indicating that reduced expression of this master regulator of T cell differentiation promotes a pro-inflammatory response and strongly corroborates genetic evidence that BACH2 plays an important role in CD pathogenesis.