Mutations in GABRB3: From febrile seizures to epileptic encephalopathies
Rikke S Møller1, Thomas V Wuttke2, Ingo Helbig2
1From the Danish Epilepsy Centre (R.S.M., K.M.J., M.N.), Dianalund; Institute for Regional Health Services (R.S.M., K.M.J., M.N.), University of Southern Denmark, Odense; Department of Neurology and Epileptology (T.V.W., S.V., H.L., S.M.), Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, and Department of Neurosurgery (T.V.W.), University of Tübingen; Department of Neuropediatrics (I.H., M.P., S.v.S., H.M.), University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany; Division of Neurology (I.H., S.H., H.D.), The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA; Neuroscience Department (C.M., R.G.), Children's Hospital Anna Meyer-University of Florence, Italy; Department of Genetics (E.H.B., M.S., K.L.v.G.), University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department of Neurology and Neurorehabilitation (U.V., I.T., T.T.), Children's Clinic of Tartu University Hospital, Estonia; Department of Pediatric Neurology and Epilepsy Center (I.B.), LMU Munich, Germany; Department of Pediatrics (I.T., T.T.), University of Tartu; Tallinn Children's Hospital (I.T.), Tallinn, Estonia; Clinic for Neuropediatrics and Neurorehabilitation (G.K., C.B., H.H.), Epilepsy Center for Children and Adolescents, Schön Klinik Vogtareuth, Germany; Paracelsus Medical Private University (G.K.), Salzburg, Austria; Neuropeadiatric Department (L.L.F.), Hospices Civils de Lyon; Department of Genetics (G.L., N.C.), Lyon University Hospitals; Claude Bernard Lyon I University (G.L., N.C.); Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre (G.L., N.C.), CNRS UMR5292, INSERM U1028; Epilepsy, Sleep and Pediatric Neurophysiology Department (J.d.B.), Lyon University Hospitals, France; Clinic for Pediatric Neurology (S.B.), Pediatric Department, University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark; Kleinwachau (N.H.), Sächsisches Epilepsiezentrum Radeberg, Dresden; Department of Neuropediatrics/Epilepsy Center (J.J.), University Medical Center Freiburg; Department of General Paediatrics (S.S.), Division of Child Neurology and Inherited Metabolic Diseases, Centre for Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg; Department of Women and Child Health (S.S.), Hospital for Children and Adolescents, University of Leipzig Hospitals and Clinics, Germany; Department of Pediatrics (C.T.M., H.C.M.), Division of Genetic Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle; Amplexa Genetics (L.H.G.L., H.A.D.), Odense, Denmark; Northern German Epilepsy Center for Children and Adolescents (S.v.S.), Schwentinental-Raisdorf, Germany; Wilhelm Johannsen Centre for Functional Genome Research (Y.M., N.T.), Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen; Danish Epilepsy Center (G.R.), Filadelfia/University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Diagnostics (J.R.L.), Institute of Human Genetics, University of Leipzig; and Svt. Luka's Institute of Child Neurology and Epilepsy (K.M.), Moscow, Russia. Dr Maljevic is currently at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia. rimo@filadelfia.dk.
Objective:
To examine the role of mutations in GABRB3 encoding the β3 subunit of the GABAA receptor in individual patients with epilepsy with regard to causality, the spectrum of genetic variants, their pathophysiology, and associated phenotypes.
Methods:
We performed massive parallel sequencing of GABRB3 in 416 patients with a range of epileptic encephalopathies and childhood-onset epilepsies and recruited additional patients with epilepsy with GABRB3 mutations from other research and diagnostic programs.
Results:
We identified 22 patients with heterozygous mutations in GABRB3, including 3 probands from multiplex families. The phenotypic spectrum of the mutation carriers ranged from simple febrile seizures, genetic epilepsies with febrile seizures plus, and epilepsy with myoclonic-atonic seizures to West syndrome and other types of severe, early-onset epileptic encephalopathies. Electrophysiologic analysis of 7 mutations in Xenopus laevis oocytes, using coexpression of wild-type or mutant β3, together with α5 and γ2s subunits and an automated 2-microelectrode voltage-clamp system, revealed reduced GABA-induced current amplitudes or GABA sensitivity for 5 of 7 mutations.
Conclusions:
Our results indicate that GABRB3 mutations are associated with a broad phenotypic spectrum of epilepsies and that reduced receptor function causing GABAergic disinhibition represents the relevant disease mechanism.
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