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. 2017 May 2;7(5):e1110.
doi: 10.1038/tp.2017.81.

Incorrect dosage of IQSEC2, a known intellectual disability and epilepsy gene, disrupts dendritic spine morphogenesis

Affiliations

Incorrect dosage of IQSEC2, a known intellectual disability and epilepsy gene, disrupts dendritic spine morphogenesis

S J Hinze et al. Transl Psychiatry. .

Abstract

There is considerable genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity associated with intellectual disability (ID), specific learning disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism and epilepsy. The intelligence quotient (IQ) motif and SEC7 domain containing protein 2 gene (IQSEC2) is located on the X-chromosome and harbors mutations that contribute to non-syndromic ID with and without early-onset seizure phenotypes in both sexes. Although IQ and Sec7 domain mutations lead to partial loss of IQSEC2 enzymatic activity, the in vivo pathogenesis resulting from these mutations is not known. Here we reveal that IQSEC2 has a key role in dendritic spine morphology. Partial loss-of-function mutations were modeled using a lentiviral short hairpin RNA (shRNA) approach, which achieved a 57% knockdown of Iqsec2 expression in primary hippocampal cell cultures from mice. Investigating gross morphological parameters after 8 days of in vitro culture (8DIV) identified a 32% reduction in primary axon length, in contrast to a 27% and 31% increase in the number and complexity of dendrites protruding from the cell body, respectively. This increase in dendritic complexity and spread was carried through dendritic spine development, with a 34% increase in the number of protrusions per dendritic segment compared with controls at 15DIV. Although the number of dendritic spines had normalized by 21DIV, a reduction was noted in the number of immature spines. In contrast, when modeling increased dosage, overexpression of wild-type IQSEC2 led to neurons with shorter axons that were more compact and displayed simpler dendritic branching. Disturbances to dendritic morphology due to knockdown of Iqsec2 were recapitulated in neurons from Iqsec2 knockout mice generated in our laboratory using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. These observations provide evidence of dosage sensitivity for IQSEC2, which normally escapes X-inactivation in females, and links these disturbances in expression to alterations in the morphology of developing neurons.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
shRNA knockdown of Iqsec2. (a) Schematic of the IQSEC2 protein with domains highlighted; coiled coil (horizontal stripes), IQ-like (white), Sec7 (dark gray), Pleckstrin Homology (PH; diagonal stripes), PDZ binding motif (black). The locations of shRNA triggers are shown below relative to the domains. (b) Clustal W analysis of Iqsec family mRNA at shRNA target regions. Iqsec1 shares 69% and Iqsec3 shares 58% identity to Iqsec2 at the mRNA level. The nucleotide bases that differ from Iqsec2 are shaded black and the sequences targeted by the shRNA are boxed. (c) Expression of Iqsec2 is reduced in primary neurons infected for 8 days with shRNA lentiviral vectors shRA and shRB compared with the shRL control. (d) Iqsec2 protein levels detected via western blot analysis of 20 μg protein from transduced primary neurons. Neurons infected with shRA and shRB vectors show reduced protein levels of Iqsec2 but no change in Iqsec3 protein levels. ActB was used as a loading control for each gel and a representative image is shown. (e) Expression of Iqsec1 was not markedly reduced with either of these triggers against Iqsec2, however, we noted a decreased expression of Iqsec3 (f). Relative expression of genes was normalized to the expression of the reference gene ActB. Relative gene expression for shRA- and shRB (light gray)-treated neurons is presented in comparison with shRL (white), which is defined as 1. IQSEC2, intelligence quotient motif and SEC7 domain containing protein 2 gene; mRNA, messenger RNA; shRNA, short hairpin RNA.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Knockdown of Iqsec2 expression leads to altered morphology of developing hippocampal neurons. Hippocampal neurons were examined after 8 days in culture (8DIV) for gross morphological measures following knockdown of endogenous Iqsec2. In the top panel, pictomicrographs of hippocampal neurons transfected with (ad) control shRL, shRA, shRB and shRC, respectively. (e) Scholl analysis of neuron interceptions on concentric circles at distance from the cell soma show broader spread for neurons with knockdown of Iqsec2; (control shRL pale gray dotted line; shRA solid dark gray line, shRB dark gray dashed line; shRC in pale gray solid line). Morphological measures include the number of times the neuron intercepted the concentric circles (f), the number of projections from the cell body (g), number of dendrite termini (h), the furthest concentric circle reached by the primary axon (i) and the length of the primary axon (j) for neurons transfected with shRNA vectors to reduce Iqsec2 expression (control shRL in white bars; shRA and shRB analysis in dark gray bars; shRC in pale gray bars). Data represent mean+s.e.m., from shRL (n=47), shRA (n=39), shRB (n=34) and shRC (n=42) treated neurons from three biological replicates. Scale bar, 100 μm. Significance *P<0.05 vs shRL and ^P<0.05 vs shRC. DIV, days in vitro; IQSEC2, intelligence quotient motif and SEC7 domain containing protein 2 gene; shRNA, short hairpin RNA.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Knockdown of Iqsec2 expression increases the density of protrusions in hippocampal neurons. The density of protrusions on dendrites in hippocampal neurons transfected with shRNA vectors to reduce Iqsec2 expression were measured after 15 (15DIV; a) and 21 days in culture (21DIV; b); control shRL (white bars), shRA and shRB (dark gray bars), shRC (pale gray bars). At 15DIV (c) and 21DIV (d), the percentage of the total protrusions were divided into categories of diminishing size, as indicated on the right hand side of the figure, with stubby spines (dark gray), mushroom spines (medium gray), thin spines (pale gray) and filopodia in hatched bars. Data represent mean+s.e.m. At 15DIV, the number of neurons/segments/protrusions (filopodia and spines) measured from shRL (n=18/62/528), shRA (n=15/53/813), shRB (n=12/35/244) and shRC (n=18/55/555). At 21DIV, the number of neurons/segments/protrusions (filopodia and spines) measured from shRL (n=4/14/222), shRA (n=7/15/241), shRB (n=5/12/155) and shRC (n=7/16/212). Measures for each group from three biological replicates. Significance *P<0.05 or #P<0.001 compared with shRL control. DIV, days in vitro; IQSEC2, intelligence quotient motif and SEC7 domain containing protein 2 gene; shRNA, short hairpin RNA.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Dosage of IQSEC2 alters the morphology of developing neurons and increases the maturity of dendritic spines. Morphological measures examined after 8 days in culture (8DIV) include the number of projections from the cell body (a), number of dendrite termini (b), the number of times the neuron intercepted the concentric circles (c), the furthest concentric circle reached by the primary axon (d) and the length of the primary axon (e) for hippocampal neurons transfected with overexpression of IQSEC2 wild-type. At 21 days in culture (21DIV), the density of protrusions on dendrites in hippocampal neurons with overexpression of IQSEC2 (f) was measured. Control GFP alone (white bars), wild-type IQSEC2 (WT; black bars), IQSEC2E849K dominant-negative mutation (E849K; light gray bars). The percentage of the total protrusions at 21DIV were divided into categories of diminishing size, as indicated on the right hand side of the figure, with stubby spines (dark gray), mushroom spines (medium gray), thin spines (pale gray) and filopodia in hatched bars (g). Data represents mean+s.e.m. 8DIV neurons from GFP (n=22), WT-IQSEC2 (n=36) and IQSEC2E849K (n=22) for each group from three biological replicates. At 21DIV, the number of neurons/segments/protrusions (filopodia and spines) measured were from GFP (n=8/16/209), WT-IQSEC2 (n=6/10/91) and IQSEC2E849K (n=5/13/111). Significance *P<0.05 or #P<0.001 compared with GFP alone control. DIV, days in vitro; GFP, green fluorescent protein; IQSEC2, intelligence quotient motif and SEC7 domain containing protein 2 gene.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Cortical neurons from Iqsec2 knockout (KO) mice demonstrate early gross morphological changes when compared with their wild-type (WT) counterparts. (a) The exon–intron structure of the longest isoform of IQSEC2 gene [NM_0011111125] has 15 exons, with the ATG, open reading frame and stop codon positions in black and 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions in light gray. The sequence of exon 3 to exon 13 are identical (boxed with solid gray line). The region targeted by CRISPR/Cas9 is highlighted below with knockout of exon 3 shown at the gDNA level (below dotted box) and the PCR amplicons in the panel on the left depicts the absent Iqsec2 mRNA expression across the exon 2–3 junction and absent Iqsec2 protein abundance in hemizygous males (KO/Y) compared with wild-type (+/Y, WT) controls. Heterozygous females (KO/+) and their wild-type controls (+/+) are shown for reference, as heterozygous females were used to generate subsequent experimental embryos. (b) The absence of PCR amplicons and Iqsec2 protein abundance was confirmed in cortical neurons extracted from hemizygous (KO) males compared with wild-type (WT) controls. Representative pictomicrographs of cortical neurons spiked with 0.5 μg pmaxGFP from WT and KO males. Scale bar, 100 μm. (ce) Neurons were examined after 8 days in culture (8DIV) with measures for WT (white bars) or KO neurons (dark gray bars) including the proportion of primary axons which change quadrant (1 quadrant=45 degrees; c), number of quadrants changed (d) and proportion of neurons where dendrites project further than concentric circle 5 (CC5; e). Data represent mean+s.e.m., from neurons from Wt (n=32) and Iqsec2 KO (n=39), from cultures of two biological replicates consisting of two pooled litters, generating 13 and 17 embryos, respectively. *P<0.05 indicates significant difference between WT and KO neurons. DIV, days in vitro; gDNA, genomic DNA; IQSEC2, intelligence quotient motif and SEC7 domain containing protein 2 gene; mRNA, messenger RNA.

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