Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (Jan 2024)

Disruption of the autism-associated gene SCN2A alters synaptic development and neuronal signaling in patient iPSC-glutamatergic neurons

  • Chad O. Brown,
  • Chad O. Brown,
  • Jarryll A. Uy,
  • Jarryll A. Uy,
  • Nadeem Murtaza,
  • Nadeem Murtaza,
  • Elyse Rosa,
  • Alexandria Alfonso,
  • Biren M. Dave,
  • Biren M. Dave,
  • Savannah Kilpatrick,
  • Savannah Kilpatrick,
  • Annie A. Cheng,
  • Sean H. White,
  • Stephen W. Scherer,
  • Stephen W. Scherer,
  • Karun K. Singh,
  • Karun K. Singh,
  • Karun K. Singh

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2023.1239069
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17

Abstract

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SCN2A is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk gene and encodes a voltage-gated sodium channel. However, the impact of ASD-associated SCN2A de novo variants on human neuron development is unknown. We studied SCN2A using isogenic SCN2A–/– induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and patient-derived iPSCs harboring a de novo R607* truncating variant. We used Neurogenin2 to generate excitatory (glutamatergic) neurons and found that SCN2A+/R607* and SCN2A–/– neurons displayed a reduction in synapse formation and excitatory synaptic activity. We found differential impact on actional potential dynamics and neuronal excitability that reveals a loss-of-function effect of the R607* variant. Our study reveals that a de novo truncating SCN2A variant impairs the development of human neuronal function.

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