SynGAP1 is a complex protein with several functions that may be regulated temporally via complex isoforms.[8] A well-documented function of SynGAP1 involves NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic plasticity and membrane insertion of AMPA receptors through the suppression of upstream signaling pathways.[9] However, SynGAP1 has also been shown to function cooperatively with Unc51.1 in axon formation.[10] One way SynGAP1 affects these processes is through the MAP kinase signaling pathway by attenuation of Ras signalling.[11] However, alternative splicing and multiple translational start sites have been shown to cause opposing effects, illustrating the importance of multiple functional domains that reside within the c- and n-termini. For example, the expression of an α1 or α2 c-terminal variant of SynGAP1 will either increase or decrease synaptic strength, respectively.[8] Overall, SynGAP1 is essential for development and survival, which is evident as knockout mice die perinatally.[12]
Dendritic spine development and maturationedit
SynGAP1 is shown to localize at the postsynaptic density on the dendritic spines of excitatory synapses.[6] Cultured neurons of SynGAP heterozygotic and homozygotic knockout mice display accelerated maturation of dendritic spines, including an increase in overall spine size, which produces more mushroom shaped and less stubby spines.[9][11][13] Spine heads are enlarged due to the increased phosphorylation of cofilin, leading to a decrease in F-actin severing and turnover.[14] The increased size of the dendritic spines also corresponded to an increase in membrane bound AMPARs or a decrease in silent synapses. These neurons displayed a higher frequency and larger amplitudes of miniature excitatory postsynaptic potentials (mEPSP).[13] Mice models with domain specific mutations led to neonatal hyperactivity of the hippocampal trisynaptic circuit. Mutations had the greatest impact during the first 3 weeks of development, and reversal of mutations in adults did not improve behavior and cognition.[9]
Clinical significanceedit
Several mutations in the SYNGAP1 gene were identified as the cause of intellectual disability. Intellectual disability is sometimes associated with syndromes of other defects caused by the same gene, but SYNGAP1-associated intellectual disability is not; it is therefore called non-syndromic intellectual disability. Since neither of the parents of children with this condition have the mutation, this means it was a sporadic mutation that occurred during division of the parents' gametes (meiosis) or fertilization of the egg. It is a dominant mutation, which means that the individual will be developmentally disabled even if only one allele is mutated.[15]
Epilepsy in this disorder is distinctive, combining eyelid myoclonia with absences and myoclonic-atonic seizures. Seizures are often triggered by eating.[19][20]
Ongoing researchedit
A causal therapy was the first successful worldwide by the group of Prof. Gerhard Kluger tested at the Schön Klinik in Vogtareuth with statins. In the process, the RAS pathway, which is overactive in SYNGAP1-associated intellectual disability is inhibited by statins. Further clinical studies by the group of Prof. Gerhard Kluger are in preparation.[21]
^ abcClement JP, Aceti M, Creson TK, Ozkan ED, Shi Y, Reish NJ, Almonte AG, Miller BH, Wiltgen BJ, Miller CA, Xu X, Rumbaugh G (November 2012). "Pathogenic SYNGAP1 mutations impair cognitive development by disrupting maturation of dendritic spine synapses". Cell. 151 (4): 709–23. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2012.08.045. PMC3500766. PMID 23141534.
^ abTomoda T, Kim JH, Zhan C, Hatten ME (March 2004). "Role of Unc51.1 and its binding partners in CNS axon outgrowth". Genes & Development. 18 (5): 541–58. doi:10.1101/gad.1151204. PMC374236. PMID 15014045.
^ abRumbaugh G, Adams JP, Kim JH, Huganir RL (March 2006). "SynGAP regulates synaptic strength and mitogen-activated protein kinases in cultured neurons". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (12): 4344–51. doi:10.1073/pnas.0600084103. PMC1450173. PMID 16537406.
^Kim JH, Lee HK, Takamiya K, Huganir RL (February 2003). "The role of synaptic GTPase-activating protein in neuronal development and synaptic plasticity". The Journal of Neuroscience. 23 (4): 1119–24. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-04-01119.2003. PMC6742247. PMID 12598599.
^ abVazquez LE, Chen HJ, Sokolova I, Knuesel I, Kennedy MB (October 2004). "SynGAP regulates spine formation". The Journal of Neuroscience. 24 (40): 8862–72. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3213-04.2004. PMC6729942. PMID 15470153.
^Lin YC, Koleske AJ (July 2010). "Mechanisms of synapse and dendrite maintenance and their disruption in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders". Annual Review of Neuroscience. 33: 349–78. doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-060909-153204. PMC3063389. PMID 20367247.
^Hamdan FF, Gauthier J, Spiegelman D, Noreau A, Yang Y, Pellerin S, Dobrzeniecka S, Côté M, Perreau-Linck E, Perreault-Linck E, Carmant L, D'Anjou G, Fombonne E, Addington AM, Rapoport JL, Delisi LE, Krebs MO, Mouaffak F, Joober R, Mottron L, Drapeau P, Marineau C, Lafrenière RG, Lacaille JC, Rouleau GA, Michaud JL (February 2009). "Mutations in SYNGAP1 in autosomal nonsyndromic mental retardation". The New England Journal of Medicine. 360 (6): 599–605. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0805392. PMC2925262. PMID 19196676.
^Carvill GL, Heavin SB, Yendle SC, McMahon JM, O'Roak BJ, Cook J, Khan A, Dorschner MO, Weaver M, Calvert S, Malone S, Wallace G, Stanley T, Bye AM, Bleasel A, Howell KB, Kivity S, Mackay MT, Rodriguez-Casero V, Webster R, Korczyn A, Afawi Z, Zelnick N, Lerman-Sagie T, Lev D, Møller RS, Gill D, Andrade DM, Freeman JL, Sadleir LG, Shendure J, Berkovic SF, Scheffer IE, Mefford HC (July 2013). "Targeted resequencing in epileptic encephalopathies identifies de novo mutations in CHD2 and SYNGAP1". Nature Genetics. 45 (7): 825–30. doi:10.1038/ng.2646. PMC3704157. PMID 23708187.
^Berryer MH, Hamdan FF, Klitten LL, Møller RS, Carmant L, Schwartzentruber J, et al. (February 2013). "Mutations in SYNGAP1 cause intellectual disability, autism, and a specific form of epilepsy by inducing haploinsufficiency". Human Mutation. 34 (2): 385–94. doi:10.1002/humu.22248. PMID 23161826. S2CID 11397001.
^Michaelson SD, Ozkan ED, Aceti M, et al. (December 2018). "SYNGAP1 heterozygosity disrupts sensory processing by reducing touch-related activity within somatosensory cortex circuits". Nature Neuroscience. 21 (12): 1–13. doi:10.1038/s41593-018-0268-0. ISSN 1546-1726. PMC6309426. PMID 30455457.
^Vlaskamp DR, Shaw BJ, Burgess R, Mei D, Montomoli M, Xie H, Myers CT, Bennett MF, XiangWei W, Williams D, Maas SM, Brooks AS, Mancini GM, van de Laar IM, van Hagen JM, Ware TL, Webster RI, Malone S, Berkovic SF, Kalnins RM, Sicca F, Korenke GC, van Ravenswaaij-Arts CM, Hildebrand MS, Mefford HC, Jiang Y, Guerrini R, Scheffer IE (2018-12-12). "SYNGAP1 encephalopathy". Neurology. 92 (2): e96–e107. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000006729. ISSN 0028-3878. PMC6340340. PMID 30541864.
^Stülpnagel, Celina von; Hartlieb, Till; Borggräfe, Ingo; et al. (2019-02-01). "Chewing induced reflex seizures ("eating epilepsy") and eye closure sensitivity as a common feature in pediatric patients with SYNGAP1 mutations: Review of literature and report of 8 cases". Seizure: European Journal of Epilepsy. 65: 131–137. doi:10.1016/j.seizure.2018.12.020. ISSN 1059-1311. PMID 30685520.
^Kluger G, von Stülpnagel-Steinbeis C, Arnold S, Eschermann K, Hartlieb T (August 2019). "Positive Short-Term Effect of Low-Dose Rosuvastatin in a Patient with SYNGAP1-Associated Epilepsy". Neuropediatrics. 50 (4): 266–267. doi:10.1055/s-0039-1681066. PMID 30875700. S2CID 80619705.
Further readingedit
Fantl WJ, Escobedo JA, Martin GA, Turck CW, del Rosario M, McCormick F, Williams LT (May 1992). "Distinct phosphotyrosines on a growth factor receptor bind to specific molecules that mediate different signaling pathways". Cell. 69 (3): 413–23. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(92)90444-H. PMID 1374684. S2CID 34434246.
Kroll J, Waltenberger J (December 1997). "The vascular endothelial growth factor receptor KDR activates multiple signal transduction pathways in porcine aortic endothelial cells". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 272 (51): 32521–7. doi:10.1074/jbc.272.51.32521. PMID 9405464.
Kim JH, Liao D, Lau LF, Huganir RL (April 1998). "SynGAP: a synaptic RasGAP that associates with the PSD-95/SAP90 protein family". Neuron. 20 (4): 683–91. doi:10.1016/S0896-6273(00)81008-9. PMID 9581761. S2CID 12247592.
Chen HJ, Rojas-Soto M, Oguni A, Kennedy MB (May 1998). "A synaptic Ras-GTPase activating protein (p135 SynGAP) inhibited by CaM kinase II". Neuron. 20 (5): 895–904. doi:10.1016/S0896-6273(00)80471-7. PMID 9620694. S2CID 14655729.
Li W, Okano A, Tian QB, Nakayama K, Furihata T, Nawa H, Suzuki T (June 2001). "Characterization of a novel synGAP isoform, synGAP-beta". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 276 (24): 21417–24. doi:10.1074/jbc.M010744200. PMID 11278737.
Pei L, Teves RL, Wallace MC, Gurd JW (August 2001). "Transient cerebral ischemia increases tyrosine phosphorylation of the synaptic RAS-GTPase activating protein, SynGAP". Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. 21 (8): 955–63. doi:10.1097/00004647-200108000-00008. PMID 11487731.
Nagase T, Kikuno R, Ohara O (August 2001). "Prediction of the coding sequences of unidentified human genes. XXI. The complete sequences of 60 new cDNA clones from brain which code for large proteins". DNA Research. 8 (4): 179–87. doi:10.1093/dnares/8.4.179. PMID 11572484.
Yi J, Kloeker S, Jensen CC, Bockholt S, Honda H, Hirai H, Beckerle MC (March 2002). "Members of the Zyxin family of LIM proteins interact with members of the p130Cas family of signal transducers". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 277 (11): 9580–9. doi:10.1074/jbc.M106922200. PMID 11782456.
Song B, Meng F, Yan X, Guo J, Zhang G (October 2003). "Cerebral ischemia immediately increases serine phosphorylation of the synaptic RAS-GTPase activating protein SynGAP by calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II alpha in hippocampus of rats". Neuroscience Letters. 349 (3): 183–6. doi:10.1016/S0304-3940(03)00830-9. PMID 12951199. S2CID 19562266.
Oh JS, Manzerra P, Kennedy MB (April 2004). "Regulation of the neuron-specific Ras GTPase-activating protein, synGAP, by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 279 (17): 17980–8. doi:10.1074/jbc.M314109200. PMID 14970204.
Tomoda T, Kim JH, Zhan C, Hatten ME (March 2004). "Role of Unc51.1 and its binding partners in CNS axon outgrowth". Genes & Development. 18 (5): 541–58. doi:10.1101/gad.1151204. PMC374236. PMID 15014045.
Song B, Yan XB, Zhang GY (April 2004). "PSD-95 promotes CaMKII-catalyzed serine phosphorylation of the synaptic RAS-GTPase activating protein SynGAP after transient brain ischemia in rat hippocampus". Brain Research. 1005 (1–2): 44–50. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2004.01.032. PMID 15044063. S2CID 33854259.
Brandenberger R, Wei H, Zhang S, Lei S, Murage J, Fisk GJ, Li Y, Xu C, Fang R, Guegler K, Rao MS, Mandalam R, Lebkowski J, Stanton LW (June 2004). "Transcriptome characterization elucidates signaling networks that control human ES cell growth and differentiation". Nature Biotechnology. 22 (6): 707–16. doi:10.1038/nbt971. PMID 15146197. S2CID 27764390.
Jaffe H, Vinade L, Dosemeci A (August 2004). "Identification of novel phosphorylation sites on postsynaptic density proteins". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 321 (1): 210–8. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2004.06.122. PMID 15358237.
Rumbaugh G, Adams JP, Kim JH, Huganir RL (March 2006). "SynGAP regulates synaptic strength and mitogen-activated protein kinases in cultured neurons". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (12): 4344–51. doi:10.1073/pnas.0600084103. PMC1450173. PMID 16537406.
External linksedit
Overview of all the structural information available in the PDB for UniProt: F6SEU4 (Mouse Ras/Rap GTPase-activating protein SynGAP) at the PDBe-KB.