Baker, Gordon et al. present the first international case series describing the neurodevelopmental disorder associated with Synaptotagmin 1 (SYT1) de novo missense mutations. Key features include movement abnormalities, severe intellectual disability, and hallmark EEG alterations. Expression of patients’ SYT1 mutations in mouse neurons disturbs presynaptic vesicle dynamics in a mutation-specific manner.

To identify novel targets for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) therapy, we performed genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screening using AML cell lines, followed by a second screen in vivo. Here, we show that the mRNA decapping enzyme scavenger (DCPS) gene is essential for AML cell survival. The DCPS enzyme interacted with components of pre-mRNA metabolic pathways, including spliceosomes, as revealed by mass spectrometry. RG3039, a DCPS inhibitor originally developed to treat spinal muscular atrophy, exhibited anti-leukemic activity via inducing pre-mRNA mis-splicing. Humans harboring germline biallelic DCPS loss-of-function mutations do not exhibit aberrant hematologic phenotypes, indicating that DCPS is dispensable for human hematopoiesis. Our findings shed light on a pre-mRNA metabolic pathway and identify DCPS as a target for AML therapy.

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CAMK2) plays fundamental roles in synaptic plasticity that underlies learning and memory. Here, we describe a new recessive neurodevelopmental syndrome with global developmental delay, seizures and intellectual disability. Using linkage analysis and exome sequencing, we found that this disease maps to chromosome 5q31.1-q34 and is caused by a biallelic germline mutation in CAMK2A. The missense mutation, p.His477Tyr is located in the CAMK2A association domain that is critical for its function and localization. Biochemically, the p.His477Tyr mutant is defective in self-oligomerization and unable to assemble into the multimeric holoenzyme.In vivo, CAMK2AH477Y failed to rescue neuronal defects in C. elegans lacking unc-43, the ortholog of human CAMK2A. In vitro, neurons derived from patient iPSCs displayed profound synaptic defects. Together, our data demonstrate that a recessive germline mutation in CAMK2A leads to neurodevelopmental defects in humans and suggest that dysfunctional CAMK2 paralogs may contribute to other neurological disorders.