Autosomal-recessive early-onset parkinsonism is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. The genetic causes of approximately 50% of autosomal-recessive early-onset forms of Parkinson disease (PD) remain to be elucidated. Homozygozity mapping and exome sequencing in 62 isolated individuals with early-onset parkinsonism and confirmed consanguinity followed by data mining in the exomes of 1,348 PD-affected individuals identified, in three isolated subjects, homozygous or compound heterozygous truncating mutations in vacuolar protein sorting 13C (VPS13C). VPS13C mutations are associated with a distinct form of early-onset parkinsonism characterized by rapid and severe disease progression and early cognitive decline; the pathological features were striking and reminiscent of diffuse Lewy body disease. In cell models, VPS13C partly localized to the outer membrane of mitochondria. Silencing of VPS13C was associated with lower mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial fragmentation, increased respiration rates, exacerbated PINK1/Parkin-dependent mitophagy, and transcriptional upregulation of PARK2 in response to mitochondrial damage. This work suggests that loss of function of VPS13C is a cause of autosomal-recessive early-onset parkinsonism with a distinctive phenotype of rapid and severe progression.

Hereditary spastic paraplegias are heterogeneous neurological disorders characterized by a pyramidal syndrome with symptoms predominantly affecting the lower limbs. Some limited pyramidal involvement also occurs in patients with an autosomal recessive neurocutaneous syndrome due to ALDH18A1 mutations. ALDH18A1 encodes delta-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS), an enzyme that catalyses the first and common step of proline and ornithine biosynthesis from glutamate. Through exome sequencing and candidate gene screening, we report two families with autosomal recessive transmission of ALDH18A1 mutations, and predominant complex hereditary spastic paraplegia with marked cognitive impairment, without any cutaneous abnormality. More interestingly, we also identified monoallelic ALDH18A1 mutations segregating in three independent families with autosomal dominant pure or complex hereditary spastic paraplegia, as well as in two sporadic patients. Low levels of plasma ornithine, citrulline, arginine and proline in four individuals from two families suggested P5CS deficiency. Glutamine loading tests in two fibroblast cultures from two related affected subjects confirmed a metabolic block at the level of P5CS in vivo. Besides expanding the clinical spectrum of ALDH18A1-related pathology, we describe mutations segregating in an autosomal dominant pattern. The latter are associated with a potential trait biomarker; we therefore suggest including amino acid chromatography in the clinico-genetic work-up of hereditary spastic paraplegia, particularly in dominant cases, as the associated phenotype is not distinct from other causative genes.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most frequent neurodegenerative disease caused by the preferential, progressive degeneration of the dopaminergic (DA) neurons of the substantia nigra (SN) pars compacta. PD is characterized by a multifaceted pathological process involving protein misfolding, mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation and metabolism deregulation. The molecular mechanisms governing the complex interplay between the different facets of this process are still unknown. PARK2/Parkin and PARK6/PINK1, two genes responsible for familial forms of PD, act as a ubiquitous core signaling pathway, coupling mitochondrial stress to mitochondrial surveillance, by regulating mitochondrial dynamics, the removal of damaged mitochondrial components by mitochondria-derived vesicles, mitophagy, and mitochondrial biogenesis. Over the last decade, PINK1/Parkin-dependent mitochondrial quality control emerged as a pleiotropic regulatory pathway. Loss of its function impinges on a number of physiological processes suspected to contribute to PD pathogenesis. Its role in the regulation of innate immunity and inflammatory processes stands out, providing compelling support to the contribution of non-cell-autonomous immune mechanisms in PD. In this review, we illustrate the central role of this multifunctional pathway at the crossroads between mitochondrial stress, neuroinflammation and metabolism. We discuss how its dysfunction may contribute to PD pathogenesis and pinpoint major unresolved questions in the field.

Mutations of the PARK2 and PINK1 genes, encoding the cytosolic E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase Parkin and the mitochondrial serine/ threonine kinase PINK1, respectively, cause autosomal recessive early-onset Parkinson's disease (PD). Parkin and PINK1 cooperate in a biochemical mitochondrial quality control pathway regulating mitochondrial morphology, dynamics and clearance. This study identifies the multifunctional PD-related mitochondrial matrix enzyme 17-β hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 10 (HSD17B10) as a new Parkin substrate. Parkin overproduction in cells increased mitochondrial HSD17B10 abundance by a mechanism involving ubiquitin chain extension, whereas PARK2 downregulation or deficiency caused mitochondrial HSD17B10 depletion in cells and mice. HSD17B10 levels were also found to be low in the brains of PD patients with PARK2 mutations. Confocal and Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) microscopy revealed that HSD17B10 recruited Parkin to the translocase of the outer membrane (TOM), close to PINK1, both in functional mitochondria and after the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). PD-causing PARK2 mutations impaired interaction with HSD17B10 and the HSD17B10-dependent mitochondrial translocation of Parkin. HSD17B10 overproduction promoted mitochondrial elongation and mitigated CCCP-induced mitochondrial degradation independently of enzymatic activity. These effects were abolished by overproduction of the fissionpromiting dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1). By contrast, siRNA-mediated HSD17B10 silencing enhanced mitochondrial fission and mitophagy. These findings suggest that the maintenance of appropriate mitochondrial HSD17B10 levels is one of the mechanisms by which Parkin preserves mitochondrial quality. The loss of this protective mechanism may contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal degeneration in autosomal recessive PD. Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder. It is caused by progressive loss of the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta. It is mostly sporadic, but about 10% of cases are familial forms with Mendelian inheritance.1 Autosomal recessive forms of PD are caused by mutations of PARK2/parkin, PINK1, DJ-1 and ATP13A2. PARK2 mutations are responsible for almost 40% of cases beginning before the age of 45. Parkin is a cytosolic RING-in-between-RING ubiquitin ligase with HECT-like enzyme activity; 2 it has versatile ubiquitylation activities and various putative protein substrates with diverse functions, involved in different cellular processes.1 Genetic studies in Drosophila have shown Parkin and the mitochondrial serine/threonine kinase PINK1 to be components of a molecular pathway maintaining mitochondrial physiology. [3][4][5][6][7] In mammalian cells, PINK1 and Parkin cooperate in the clearance of dysfunctional mitochondria. The disruption of mitochondrial membrane (MM) potential (ΔΨm) by uncouplers or oxidative stress leads to PINK1 accumulation on the outer MM (OMM), the PINK1-dependent recruitment ...

Most of over a thousand mitochondrial proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and must be imported from the cytosol. Little is known about the cytosolic events regulating mitochondrial protein import, partly due to the lack of appropriate tools for its assessment in living cells. We engineered an inducible biosensor for monitoring the main presequence-mediated import pathway with a quantitative, luminescence-based readout. This tool was used to explore the regulation of mitochondrial import by the PINK1 kinase-driven Parkin ubiquitin ligase, which is dysfunctional in autosomal recessive Parkinson’s disease. We show that mitochondrial import was stimulated by Parkin, but not by disease-causing Parkin variants. This effect was dependent on Parkin activation by PINK1 and accompanied by an increase in the abundance of K11 ubiquitin chains on mitochondria and by ubiquitylation of subunits of the translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondrial import efficiency was abnormally low in cells from patients with PINK1- and PARK2 -linked Parkinson’s disease and was restored by phosphomimetic ubiquitin in cells with residual Parkin activity. Altogether, these findings uncover a role of ubiquitylation in mitochondrial import regulation and suggest that loss of this regulatory loop may underlie the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease, providing novel opportunities for therapeutic intervention.

Objective: Dominant spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) are characterized by genetic heterogeneity. Some mapped and named loci remain without a causal gene identified. Here we applied next generation sequencing (NGS) to uncover the genetic etiology of the SCA25 locus. Methods: Whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing were performed in families linked to SCA25, including the French family in which the SCA25 locus was originally mapped. Whole exome sequence data were interrogated in a cohort of 796 ataxia patients of unknown etiology. Results: The SCA25 phenotype spans a slowly evolving sensory and cerebellar ataxia, in most cases attributed to ganglionopathy. A pathogenic variant causing exon skipping was identified in the gene encoding Polyribonucleotide Nucleotidyltransferase PNPase 1 (PNPT1) located in the SCA25 linkage interval. A second splice variant in PNPT1 was detected in a large Australian family with a dominant ataxia also mapping to SCA25. An additional nonsense variant was detected in an unrelated individual with ataxia. Both nonsense and splice heterozygous variants result in premature stop codons, all located in the S1-domain of PNPase. In addition, an elevated type I interferon response was observed in blood from all affected heterozygous carriers tested. PNPase notably prevents the abnormal accumulation of

With more than forty causative genes identified so far, autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias exhibit a remarkable genetic heterogeneity. Yet, half the patients are lacking a molecular diagnosis. In a large family with nine sampled affected members, we performed exome sequencing combined with whole-genome linkage analysis. We identified a missense variant in NPTX1, NM_002522.3: c.1165G>A: p.G389R, segregating with the phenotype. Further investigations with whole exome sequencing and an amplicon-based panel identified four additional unrelated families segregating the same variant, for whom a common founder effect could be excluded. A second missense variant, NM_002522.3: c.980A>G: p.E327G, was identified in a fifth familial case. The NPTX1-associated phenotype consists of a late-onset, slowly progressive, cerebellar ataxia, with downbeat nystagmus, cognitive impairment reminiscent of cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome, myoclonic tremor and mild cerebellar vermian atrophy on brain imaging. NPTX1 encodes the neuronal pentraxin 1, a secreted protein with various cellular and synaptic functions. Both variants affect conserved amino-acid residues and are extremely rare or absent from public databases. In COS7 cells, overexpression of both neuronal pentraxin 1 variants altered endoplasmic reticulum morphology and induced ATF6-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress, associated with cytotoxicity. In addition, the p. E327G variant abolished neuronal pentraxin 1 secretion, as well as its capacity to form a high molecular weight complex with the wild-type protein. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments coupled with mass spectrometry analysis demonstrated abnormal interactions of this variant with the cytoskeleton. In agreement with these observations, in silico modelling of the neuronal pentraxin 1 complex evidenced a destabilizing effect for the p. E327G substitution, located at the interface between monomers. On the contrary, the p. G389 residue, located at the protein surface, had no predictable effect on the complex stability. Our results establish NPTX1 as a new causative gene in autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias. We suggest that variants in NPTX1 can lead to cerebellar ataxia due to endoplasmic reticulum stress, mediated by ATF6, and associated to a destabilization of NP1 polymers in a dominant-negative manner for one of the variants.