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Gastrointestinal dysfunction in patients and mice expressing the autism-associated r451c mutation in neuroligin-3

Hosie, Suzanne ; Ellis, Melina ; Swaminathan, Mathusi ; Ramalhosa, Fatima ; Seger, Gracia O. ; Balasuriya, Gayathri K. ; Gillberg, Christopher ; Råstam, Maria LU orcid ; Churilov, Leonid and McKeown, Sonja J. , et al. (2019) In Autism Research 12(7). p.1043-1056
Abstract

Gastrointestinal (GI) problems constitute an important comorbidity in many patients with autism. Multiple mutations in the neuroligin family of synaptic adhesion molecules are implicated in autism, however whether they are expressed and impact GI function via changes in the enteric nervous system is unknown. We report the GI symptoms of two brothers with autism and an R451C mutation in Nlgn3 encoding the synaptic adhesion protein, neuroligin-3. We confirm the presence of an array of synaptic genes in the murine GI tract and investigate the impact of impaired synaptic protein expression in mice carrying the human neuroligin-3 R451C missense mutation (NL3R451C). Assessing in vivo gut dysfunction, we report faster small... (More)

Gastrointestinal (GI) problems constitute an important comorbidity in many patients with autism. Multiple mutations in the neuroligin family of synaptic adhesion molecules are implicated in autism, however whether they are expressed and impact GI function via changes in the enteric nervous system is unknown. We report the GI symptoms of two brothers with autism and an R451C mutation in Nlgn3 encoding the synaptic adhesion protein, neuroligin-3. We confirm the presence of an array of synaptic genes in the murine GI tract and investigate the impact of impaired synaptic protein expression in mice carrying the human neuroligin-3 R451C missense mutation (NL3R451C). Assessing in vivo gut dysfunction, we report faster small intestinal transit in NL3R451C compared to wild-type mice. Using an ex vivo colonic motility assay, we show increased sensitivity to GABAA receptor modulation in NL3R451C mice, a well-established Central Nervous System (CNS) feature associated with this mutation. We further show increased numbers of small intestine myenteric neurons in NL3R451C mice. Although we observed altered sensitivity to GABAA receptor modulators in the colon, there was no change in colonic neuronal numbers including the number of GABA-immunoreactive myenteric neurons. We further identified altered fecal microbial communities in NL3R451C mice. These results suggest that the R451C mutation affects small intestinal and colonic function and alter neuronal numbers in the small intestine as well as impact fecal microbes. Our findings identify a novel GI phenotype associated with the R451C mutation and highlight NL3R451C mice as a useful preclinical model of GI dysfunction in autism. Autism Res 2019.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
autism, gastrointestinal symptoms, gut motility, immunofluorescence, mouse, neuroligin-3
in
Autism Research
volume
12
issue
7
pages
1043 - 1056
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85066881306
  • pmid:31119867
ISSN
1939-3792
DOI
10.1002/aur.2127
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
74ef7859-3255-491e-8a52-5b5dc8db8285
date added to LUP
2019-06-25 14:16:13
date last changed
2024-05-28 17:31:05
@article{74ef7859-3255-491e-8a52-5b5dc8db8285,
  abstract     = {{<p>Gastrointestinal (GI) problems constitute an important comorbidity in many patients with autism. Multiple mutations in the neuroligin family of synaptic adhesion molecules are implicated in autism, however whether they are expressed and impact GI function via changes in the enteric nervous system is unknown. We report the GI symptoms of two brothers with autism and an R451C mutation in Nlgn3 encoding the synaptic adhesion protein, neuroligin-3. We confirm the presence of an array of synaptic genes in the murine GI tract and investigate the impact of impaired synaptic protein expression in mice carrying the human neuroligin-3 R451C missense mutation (NL3<sup>R451C</sup>). Assessing in vivo gut dysfunction, we report faster small intestinal transit in NL3<sup>R451C</sup> compared to wild-type mice. Using an ex vivo colonic motility assay, we show increased sensitivity to GABA<sub>A</sub> receptor modulation in NL3<sup>R451C</sup> mice, a well-established Central Nervous System (CNS) feature associated with this mutation. We further show increased numbers of small intestine myenteric neurons in NL3<sup>R451C</sup> mice. Although we observed altered sensitivity to GABA<sub>A</sub> receptor modulators in the colon, there was no change in colonic neuronal numbers including the number of GABA-immunoreactive myenteric neurons. We further identified altered fecal microbial communities in NL3<sup>R451C</sup> mice. These results suggest that the R451C mutation affects small intestinal and colonic function and alter neuronal numbers in the small intestine as well as impact fecal microbes. Our findings identify a novel GI phenotype associated with the R451C mutation and highlight NL3<sup>R451C</sup> mice as a useful preclinical model of GI dysfunction in autism. Autism Res 2019.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hosie, Suzanne and Ellis, Melina and Swaminathan, Mathusi and Ramalhosa, Fatima and Seger, Gracia O. and Balasuriya, Gayathri K. and Gillberg, Christopher and Råstam, Maria and Churilov, Leonid and McKeown, Sonja J. and Yalcinkaya, Nalzi and Urvil, Petri and Savidge, Tor and Bell, Carolyn A. and Bodin, Oonagh and Wood, Jen and Franks, Ashley E. and Bornstein, Joel C. and Hill-Yardin, Elisa L.}},
  issn         = {{1939-3792}},
  keywords     = {{autism; gastrointestinal symptoms; gut motility; immunofluorescence; mouse; neuroligin-3}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{1043--1056}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Autism Research}},
  title        = {{Gastrointestinal dysfunction in patients and mice expressing the autism-associated r451c mutation in neuroligin-3}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aur.2127}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/aur.2127}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}