Loss of the Immunomodulatory Transcription Factor BATF2 in Humans Is Associated with a Neurological Phenotype.
Gábor ZsurkaMaximilian L T AppelMaximilian NastalyKerstin HallmannNiels HansenDaniel NassTobias BaumgartnerRainer SurgesGunther HartmannEva BartokWolfram S KunzPublished in: Cells (2023)
Epilepsy and mental retardation are known to be associated with pathogenic mutations in a broad range of genes that are expressed in the brain and have a role in neurodevelopment. Here, we report on a family with three affected individuals whose clinical symptoms closely resemble a neurodevelopmental disorder. Whole-exome sequencing identified a homozygous stop-gain mutation, p.Gln19*, in the BATF2 gene in the patients. The BATF2 transcription factor is predominantly expressed in macrophages and monocytes and has been reported to modulate AP-1 transcription factor-mediated pro-inflammatory responses. Transcriptome analysis showed altered base-level expression of interferon-stimulated genes in the patients' blood, typical for type I interferonopathies. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from all three patients demonstrated elevated responses to innate immune stimuli, which could be reproduced in CRISPR-Cas9-generated BATF2 -/- human monocytic cell lines. BATF2 is, therefore, a novel disease-associated gene candidate for severe epilepsy and mental retardation related to dysregulation of immune responses, which underscores the relevance of neuroinflammation for epilepsy.
Keyphrases
- transcription factor
- end stage renal disease
- crispr cas
- ejection fraction
- immune response
- chronic kidney disease
- genome wide
- genome wide identification
- traumatic brain injury
- mental health
- endothelial cells
- dna methylation
- genome editing
- early onset
- dna binding
- white matter
- toll like receptor
- multiple sclerosis
- lipopolysaccharide induced
- resting state