SYT1. To continue our series on SNAREopathies—developmental disorders caused by genes encoding proteins involved in the SNARE complex—we next provide a brief overview of SYT1-related disorders. The gene SYT1 encodes synaptotagmin-1 (SYT1), which belongs to the group of synaptotagmin proteins that are essential for neurotransmission. Disease-causing mutations in SYT1 have a spectrum of clinical presentations ranging in severity and phenotypic complexity but also with certain unifying features, making SYT1-related disorders a complex neurodevelopmental SNAREopathy.
No sample left behind
Clinical Research Coordinator. My job as a Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) is to coordinate the process of obtaining samples and entering them into our database and then seeing that they get to the lab to be processed and stored for research. That is the definition – but what we do is so much more. We approach families, and our first impression sets the tone for their willingness (or their not-so-willingness) to participate. Here is our guide to what it takes to be a CRC.
ATP1A3: Sisyphus with a purpose
ATP1A3. The ATPases are the “Sisphyean” workhorses of cells, perpetually bound to utilize energy generated by mitochondria to pump ions across cell membranes. This is essential to the maintenance of the intra/extracellular electrochemical gradient. ATP1A3 codes for the α3 subunit of the Na+-K+ ATPase, which utilizes ATP to actively transport sodium out of the cell and potassium into the cell. In the brain, this gradient is critical for cell signaling and for maintaining electrochemical stability, enabling cell excitation and action potential propagation. Both ATP1A3 and one of its counterparts, ATP1A2, are expressed in neurons during embryonal brain development, and ATP1A3 is also thought to contribute to regulation of non-ionic neuronal transporters and receptors. However, whereas ATP1A2 is primarily expressed in glial cells postnatally and into adulthood, ATP1A3 continues to be expressed primarily in neurons, with particular enrichment in excitatory neurons. Here is a brief overview of the clinical spectrum of ATP1A3-related disorders.
The role of genetic counselors in the mystery, hope, and heartbreak of neurogenetics
Genetic counseling. This month, we celebrated DNA day, a successful fundraiser through Love for Liam, and the acceptance of our genetic counseling assistant (GCA), Rahma Ali, into the Emory University Genetic Counseling Training Program. On top of that, the Center for Epilepsy and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ENDD) opens soon and we’ve been actively recruiting new GCAs and interviewing new genetic counselors (GCs). All of this has reminded our team of the vital function of our GCs both on our research and clinical teams. And, it has reminded our GC team of why we pursued this field and why we love neurogenetics in particular. As our lab expands, we are dedicating more blog posts to highlighting different team members and roles, and this week, we celebrate GCs as they share the greatest, hardest, and most exciting parts of being a GC, especially in neurology.
STXBP1 – here is what you need to know in 2023
STXBP1. Today is the first day of the 1st European STXBP1 Summit and Research Roundtable, held from May 16-18th in Milan, Italy. This meeting is bringing together voices from academia, industry, organizations, and family foundations to discuss the current state of research – spanning from preclinical efforts investigating mechanisms of disease to moving towards the clinic and the future therapeutic landscape. In 2023, it feels like an understatement to say that STXBP1 is on the map. In spirit of the ongoing momentum in the field, we wanted to refresh the gene page and outline three emerging frameworks to think about STXBP1.
The Queen of the Biorepositories
Biospecimens. From the first advents of clinical neuroscience, scientists have been fascinated by biospecimen classification and storage. The immortal images from Ramon y Cajal to the staining done by Golgi have illustrated that biospecimens are parallel to the discoveries seen in clinical neuroscience. As we move to the 21st century, we may not be all that different from the forbearers of Neurology. Here is a post starting from the origins of the biorepository and leading up to the relevance of biorepositories today.
The human pangenome and the flavor of epilepsy variant interpretation
Reference. Today, the human pangenome was announced, the first reference of the human genome that systematically includes a cohort of genetically diverse individuals. The human genome, once thought to be a linear reference, is now a graph with nodes and edges. I came across the pangenome publications when I was thinking about a comment that I made earlier this week, when I was asked whether people on our team have their own flavor of variant interpretation. Let me share with you how both topics connect. Continue reading
Five novel concepts in epilepsy genetics you need to know in 2023
Framework. Neurogenetics is evolving, and so is the way we think about the connection between genes and seizures. Over the last few years, several new frameworks of thinking have entered the epilepsy genetics sphere that allow us to think about epilepsy genetics with more nuance. This blog post is dedicated to five known or emerging concepts that are evolving alongside our increased understanding of genetic epilepsies. Continue reading
Expanding the spectrum of SNAREopathies – STX1A in epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders
SNAREopathies. This post continues the series on SNAREopathies, a group of neurodevelopmental conditions caused by variants in genes encoding components that form the SNARE complex and regulatory proteins. As previously described, the SNARE complex is the molecular machinery driving synaptic vesicle release in the presynapse, which enables communication between neurons. Here, we expand the discussion to the second t-SNARE protein of the SNARE core complex, STX1A, and provide a brief review of the recent paper implicating STX1A in epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Love For Liam and the true driving force in epilepsy genetics
Fundraiser. Last Friday, our epilepsy genetics team participated in the Annual Love for Liam fundraiser, which was a golf tournament at the Northhampton Country Club, in Richboro, Pennsylvania. The Love For Liam Foundation was initiated by Heather and Kyle Johnson in memory of their baby boy, Liam, who passed away from a likely genetic epileptic encephalopathy. During the fundraiser, Heather gave one of the most passionate and powerful speeches in support of epilepsy genetics that I have ever heard. I had carried around a sense of “bittersweetness” all day that I had a hard time putting into words. And after Heather’s speech, it clicked: maybe we got it all wrong, maybe we should think about the real driving force in epilepsy genetics slightly differently.
