PUBLICATION

Vanishing white matter disease expression of truncated EIF2B5 activates induced stress response

Authors
Keefe, M.D., Soderholm, H.E., Shih, H.Y., Stevenson, T.J., Glaittli, K.A., Bowles, D.M., Scholl, E., Colby, S., Merchant, S., Hsu, E.W., Bonkowsky, J.L.
ID
ZDB-PUB-201212-20
Date
2020
Source
eLIFE   9: (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
medicine, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2B/genetics*
  • Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2B/metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Leukoencephalopathies/genetics*
  • Leukoencephalopathies/metabolism*
  • Leukoencephalopathies/physiopathology
  • Mutation
  • Stress, Physiological/physiology
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
33300869 Full text @ Elife
Abstract
Vanishing White Matter disease (VWM) is a severe leukodystrophy of the central nervous system caused by mutations in subunits of the eukaryotic initiation factor 2B complex (eIF2B). Current models only partially recapitulate key disease features, and pathophysiology is poorly understood. Through development and validation of zebrafish (Danio rerio) models of VWM, we demonstrate that zebrafish eif2b mutants phenocopy VWM, including impaired somatic growth, early lethality, effects on myelination, loss of oligodendrocyte precursor cells, increased apoptosis in the CNS, and impaired motor swimming behavior. Expression of human EIF2B2 in the zebrafish eif2b2 mutant rescues lethality and CNS apoptosis, demonstrating conservation of function between zebrafish and human. In the mutants, intron 12 retention leads to expression of a truncated eif2b5 transcript. Expression of the truncated eif2b5 in wild-type larva impairs motor behavior and activates the ISR, suggesting that a feed-forward mechanism in VWM is a significant component of disease pathophysiology.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping