Neurodevelopmental disorder-associated ZBTB20 gene variants affect dendritic and synaptic structure

PLoS One. 2018 Oct 3;13(10):e0203760. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203760. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Dendritic spine morphology and dendritic arborization are key determinants of neuronal connectivity and play critical roles in learning, memory and behavior function. Recently, defects of ZBTB20, a BTB and zinc finger domain containing transcriptional repressor, have been implicated in a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders, including intellectual disability and autism. Here we show distinct effects of expression of two major isoforms, long and short, of ZBTB20, and its neurodevelopmental disorder-linked variants, on dendritic architecture of cultured rat cortical pyramidal neurons. The N-terminal of ZBTB20 showed a role in regulating dendritic spine morphology. Two ZBTB20 single nucleotide variants, located at the N-terminal and central regions of the protein and potentially conferring autism risk, altered dendritic spine morphology. In contrast, a single nucleotide variant identified in patients with intellectual disability and located at the C-terminus of ZBTB20 affected dendritic arborization and dendritic length but had no effect on dendritic spine morphology. Furthermore, truncation of the extreme C-terminus of ZBTB20 caused spine and dendritic morphological changes that were similar but distinct from those caused by the C-terminal variant. Taken together, our study suggests ZBTB20's role in dendritic and synaptic structure and provide possible mechanisms of its effect in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Autistic Disorder / genetics
  • Autistic Disorder / physiopathology
  • Dendrites / genetics*
  • Dendrites / pathology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Hippocampus / metabolism
  • Hippocampus / pathology
  • Humans
  • Intellectual Disability / genetics
  • Intellectual Disability / physiopathology
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics*
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders / genetics*
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders / physiopathology
  • Protein Isoforms / genetics
  • Pyramidal Cells / metabolism
  • Pyramidal Cells / pathology
  • Rats
  • Synapses / genetics*
  • Synapses / pathology
  • Transcription Factors / genetics*

Substances

  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Protein Isoforms
  • Transcription Factors
  • ZBTB20 protein, human