Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 98, Issue 11, Pages 6384-6389Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.111065098
Keywords
febrile seizures; epilepsy; channelopathy
Categories
Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [R01 GM049711, GM-49711] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFs+), a clinical subset of febrile seizures (FS), is characterized by frequent episodes beyond 6 years of age (FS+) and various types of subsequent epilepsy. Mutations in beta (1) and alpha (1)-subunit genes of voltage-gated Na+ channels have been associated with GEFS+1 and 2, respectively. Here, we report a mutation resulting in an amino acid exchange (R187W) in the gene encoding the cu-subunit of neuronal voltage-gated Na+ channel type II (Na(v)1.2) in a patient with FS associated with afebrile seizures. The mutation R187W occurring on Arg(187), a highly conserved residue among voltage-gated Na+ channels, was not found in 224 alleles of unaffected individuals. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings on human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells expressing a rat wild-type (rNa(v)1.2) and the corresponding mutant channels showed that the mutant channel inactivated more slowly than wild-type whereas the Na+ channel conductance was not affected. Prolonged residence in the open state of the R187W mutant channel may augment Na+ influx and thereby underlie the neuronal hyperexcitability that induces seizure activity. Even though a small pedigree could not show clear cosegregation with the disease phenotype, these findings strongly suggest the involvement of Na(v)1.2 in a human disease and propose the R187W mutation as the genetic defect responsible for febrile seizures associated with afebrile seizures.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available