Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0036572 (seizures)
 80,221 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Progressive microcephaly is a heterogeneous condition with causes including mutations in genes encoding regulators of neuronal survival. Here, we report the identification of mutations in QARS (encoding glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase [QARS]) as the causative variants in two unrelated families affected by progressive microcephaly, severe seizures in infancy, atrophy of the cerebral cortex and cerebellar vermis, and mild atrophy of the cerebellar hemispheres. Whole-exome sequencing of individuals from each family independently identified compound-heterozygous mutations in QARS as the only candidate causative variants. QARS was highly expressed in the developing fetal human cerebral cortex in many cell types. The four QARS mutations altered highly conserved amino acids, and the aminoacylation activity of QARS was significantly impaired in mutant cell lines. Variants p.Gly45Val and p.Tyr57His were located in the N-terminal domain required for QARS interaction with proteins in the multisynthetase complex and potentially with glutamine tRNA, and recombinant QARS proteins bearing either substitution showed an over 10-fold reduction in aminoacylation activity. Conversely, variants p.Arg403Trp and p.Arg515Trp, each occurring in a different family, were located in the catalytic core and completely disrupted QARS aminoacylation activity in vitro. Furthermore, p.Arg403Trp and p.Arg515Trp rendered QARS less soluble, and p.Arg403Trp disrupted QARS-RARS (arginyl-tRNA synthetase 1) interaction. In zebrafish, homozygous qars loss of function caused decreased brain and eye size and extensive cell death in the brain. Our results highlight the importance of QARS during brain development and that epilepsy due to impairment of QARS activity is unusually severe in comparison to other aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase disorders.
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PMID:Mutations in QARS, encoding glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase, cause progressive microcephaly, cerebral-cerebellar atrophy, and intractable seizures. 2504 Dec 33

Mutations in QARS, encoding glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase, cause progressive microcephaly, cerebral-cerebellar atrophy, and intractable seizures Zhang et al. (2014) The American Journal of Human Genetics;94(4):547-558.
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PMID:Progressive microcephaly is caused by compound-heterozygous mutations in QARS. 2465 66

Aminoacyl-transfer ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthetases (ARSs) are a group of enzymes required for the first step of protein translation. Each aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetase links a specific amino acid to its corresponding transfer RNA component within the cytoplasm, mitochondria, or both. Mutations in ARSs have been linked to a growing number of diseases. Lysyl-transfer RNA synthetase (KARS) links the amino acid lysine to its cognate transfer RNA. We report 2 siblings with severe infantile visual loss, progressive microcephaly, developmental delay, seizures, and abnormal subcortical white matter. Exome sequencing identified mutations within the KARS gene (NM_005548.2):c.1312C>T; p.Arg438Trp and c.1573G>A; p.Glu525Lys occurring within a highly conserved region of the catalytic domain. Our patients' phenotype is remarkably similar to a phenotype recently reported in glutaminyl-transfer RNA synthetase (QARS), another bifunctional ARS gene. This finding expands the phenotypic spectrum associated with mutations in KARS and draws attention to aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetase as a group of enzymes that are increasingly being implicated in human disease.
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PMID:Congenital Visual Impairment and Progressive Microcephaly Due to Lysyl-Transfer Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) Synthetase (KARS) Mutations: The Expanding Phenotype of Aminoacyl-Transfer RNA Synthetase Mutations in Human Disease. 2533 Aug

Aminoacylation is the process of attaching amino acids to their cognate tRNA, and thus is essential for the translation of mRNA into protein. This direct interaction of tRNA with amino acids is catalyzed by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Using whole-exome sequencing, we identified compound heterozygous mutations [c.169T>C (p.Tyr57His) and c.1485dup (p.Lys496*)] in QARS, which encodes glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase, in two siblings with early-onset epileptic encephalopathy (EOEE). Recessive mutations in QARS, including the loss-of-function missense mutation p.Tyr57His, have been reported to cause intractable seizures with progressive microcephaly. The p.Lys496* mutation is novel and causes truncation of the QARS protein, leading to a deletion of part of the catalytic domain and the entire anticodon-binding domain. Transient expression of the p.Lys496* mutant in neuroblastoma 2A cells revealed diminished and aberrantly aggregated expression, indicating the loss-of-function nature of this mutant. Together with the previous report, our data suggest that abnormal aminoacylation is one of the underlying pathologies of EOEE.
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PMID:Mutations in the glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase gene cause early-onset epileptic encephalopathy. 2547 17

Glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase (QARS) deficiency has been described to be a cause of a neurodegenerative disorder associated with severe developmental delay, microcephaly, delayed myelination, and intractable epilepsy. The epilepsy is thought to be more severe than other tRNA synthetase disorders. Only a few cases have been reported in the literature and there is little information about response to different treatment options. The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that is used in treatment resistant epilepsy of various etiologies. There are reports that the diet can also improve neuro-cognitive parameters. The authors report a case of a patient with glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase deficiency and treatment resistant seizures where there was a marked and early favorable response in terms of seizures, alertness and behavior to the ketogenic diet.
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PMID:Case Report. 2805 32

Glutaminyl tRNA synthase is highly expressed in the developing fetal human brain. Mutations in the glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase (QARS) gene have been reported in patients with progressive microcephaly, cerebral-cerebellar atrophy, and intractable seizures. We have previously reported a new recessive syndrome of severe linear growth retardation, poor weight gain, microcephaly, characteristic facial features, cutaneous syndactyly of the toes, high myopia, and intellectual disability in two sisters of Ashkenazi-Jewish origin (Eur J Med Genet 2014;57(6):288-92). Homozygosity mapping and whole exome sequencing revealed a homozygous missense (V476I) mutation in the QARS gene, located in the catalytic domain. The patient's fibroblasts demonstrated markedly reduced QARS amino acylation activity in vitro. Furthermore, the same homozygous mutation was found in an unrelated girl of Ashkenazi origin with the same phenotype. The clinical presentation of our patients differs from the original QARS-associated syndrome in the severe postnatal growth failure, absence of epilepsy, and minor MRI findings, thus further expanding the phenotypic spectrum of the glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase deficiency syndromes.
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PMID:Severe growth deficiency, microcephaly, intellectual disability, and characteristic facial features are due to a homozygous QARS mutation. 2862 Aug 70