Cited by 102Hereditary Neurological DisordersCellular transport and secretionPeripheral Neuropathies and Disorders

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 54 of the 54 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 8 of the 45 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

SH3TC2, a protein mutant in Charcot–Marie–Tooth neuropathy, links peripheral nerve myelination to endosomal recycling

Open access

Abstract

Patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy and gene targeting in mice revealed an essential role for the SH3TC2 gene in peripheral nerve myelination. SH3TC2 expression is restricted to Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system, and the gene product, SH3TC2, localizes to the perinuclear recycling compartment. Here, we show that SH3TC2 interacts with the small guanosine triphosphatase Rab11, which is known to regulate the recycling of internalized membranes and receptors back to the cell surface. Results of protein binding studies and transferrin receptor trafficking are in line with a role of SH3TC2 as a Rab11 effector molecule. Consistent with a function of Rab11 in Schwann cell myelination, SH3TC2 mutations that cause neuropathy disrupt the SH3TC2/Rab11 interaction, and forced expression of dominant negative Rab11 strongly impairs myelin formation in vitro. Our data indicate that the SH3TC2/Rab11 interaction is relevant for peripheral nerve pathophysiology and place endosomal recycling on the list of cellular mechanisms involved in Schwann cell myelination.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

SH3TC2, the protein mutated in Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease type 4C (CMT4C), is a direct Rab11 effector localized to the endosomal recycling compartment, and CMT4C missense mutations disrupt this interaction. Rab11 activity regulates Schwann cell myelination in vitro, linking endosomal recycling to peripheral nerve myelination.

Key findings

  • SH3TC2 was identified as a direct Rab11 interactor by tandem affinity purification/mass spectrometry, coimmunoprecipitation, GST pulldown, and yeast two-hybrid assays; binding was specific to Rab11 and occurred with active GTP-bound Rab11_Q70L but not dominant-negative Rab11_S25N or the effector-domain mutant Rab11a_Q70L_I44E.
  • All tested CMT4C-associated missense substitutions (five in Fig. 4A) disrupted SH3TC2/Rab11a binding, while rodent Sh3tc2 still bound human Rab11a despite ~20% nonconserved residues.
  • Wild-type SH3TC2 slowed transferrin receptor recycling and condensed Rab11a-positive perinuclear recycling endosomes; the N881S mutant had only a slight effect. In Sh3tc2 knockout sciatic nerves, Rab11a protein levels were reduced while Rab11a mRNA was unchanged.
  • In in vitro myelination, dominant-negative Rab11a_S25N strongly impaired myelin basic protein-positive segments, whereas constitutively active Rab11a_Q70L increased myelination in dorsal root ganglion explants and Schwann cell/neuron co-cultures.

Methods

  • Protein interactions were assayed by tandem affinity purification from inducible SH3TC2-C-TAP Flp-In T-REx 293 cells followed by mass spectrometry, coimmunoprecipitation in HEK293 cells, GST pulldown with in vitro translated SH3TC2/Sh3tc2 and Rab11 mutants, and yeast two-hybrid.
  • Cell biology included immunofluorescence in HEK293, COS7, and RT4-D6P2T cells; subcellular fractionation on 5–25% Optiprep gradients; transferrin recycling by FACS (2000 GFP-positive cells, three repeats); and Rab11a surface reconstruction in 100 transfected COS7 cells per condition.
  • Myelination was assessed in mouse embryonic day 13.5 dorsal root ganglion explants and rat Schwann cell/mouse dorsal root ganglion neuron co-cultures transduced with lentiviral GFP, Rab11a_Q70L-GFP, or Rab11a_S25N-GFP; myelin basic protein staining was quantified from 10 fields per coverslip in triplicate experiments with at least three coverslips per condition, using mean ± SEM and two-tailed Student’s t-test.

Limitations

  • Stated: the authors could not identify the specific SH3TC2 protein region or a shorter linear motif mediating Rab11 binding, and CMT4C substitutions disrupting the complex are spread throughout the protein.
  • Stated: SH3TC2 may also influence myelination in a Rab11-independent manner, and other proteins in the SH3TC2 complex were not investigated for PNS/Schwann cell roles.
  • Stated/evident: no antibody against endogenous Sh3tc2 was available, so the Schwann cell line had to be transfected with a FLAG construct; the findings rely heavily on overexpression and in vitro myelination systems, with no in vivo rescue of the SH3TC2/Rab11 interaction.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/brain/awq168

Cites

54 of 54 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

26 Own result · 14 Not checked yet · 13 No full text of the sources · 13 Own interpretation · 4 Partly supported · 3 Sources not found · 2 Supported · 1 No basis given · accuracy not yet measured

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Show all 51 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 20
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 11
25 of 25
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    No proteins interacting with SH3TC2 had been identified before this study.

    “However, no protein binding to SH3TC2 has been identified so far.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The physiological function of SH3TC2 had not yet been identified, and the pathomechanism causing impaired PNS myelination in CMT4C patients and Sh3tc2 knockout mice remained unclear.

    “However, as the physiological function of the gene product, SH3TC2, has not yet been identified, the pathomechanism causing impaired PNS myelination in CMT4C patients and Sh3tc2 knockout mice has so far remained unclear.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    There were no published data on Rab11 expression in the PNS.

    “As there were no published data on Rab11 expression in the PNS, we studied Rab11a protein levels in Schwann cell lines, primary rat Schwann cell cultures and sciatic nerves of rat and mouse by western blotting (Fig. 3A).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The putative protein-binding motifs in SH3TC2 did not allow prediction of a bona fide interaction partner.

    “as the putative protein binding motifs in SH3TC2 did not allow prediction of a bona fide interaction partner, we decided to perform an unbiased screen for interacting proteins.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Rab proteins cycle between inactive GDP-bound and active GTP-bound conformations.

    “Like all GTPases, Rab proteins cycle between an inactive (guanosine diphosphatebound) and an active (GTP-bound) conformation.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The GTP-bound activated form of a Rab GTPase associates with effector molecules through which it carries out its functions.

    “The GTP-bound, activated form of the GTPase associates with effector molecules through which it carries out its functions.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Endocytic recycling may assist morphogenesis of the myelin sheath by sorting and redirecting myelin components.

    “Assuming that endocytic recycling may assist morphogenesis of the myelin sheath by sorting and redirecting myelin components”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Molecular pathways regulating vesicular transport during myelination have remained largely unknown.

    “However, molecular pathways regulating vesicular transport during myelination have remained largely unknown.”
8 of 8

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1 of 1

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Metadata

Authors
Stendel, C., Roos, A., Kleine, H., Arnaud, E., Özçelik, M., Sidiropoulos, P. N. M., Zenker, J., Schüpfer, F., Lehmann, U., Sobota, R. M., Litchfield, D. W., Lüscher, B., Chrast, R., Suter, U., & Senderek, J.
Affiliations
  • ETH Zurich (CH)
  • RWTH Aachen University (DE)
  • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CH)
  • University of Southern Denmark (DK)
  • Western University (CA)
Venue
Brain
Published
2010-07-24
Volume
133
Issue
8
Pages
2462-2474
ISSN
  • 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2156
OpenAlex
W2150495344
Cited by
102
References
53
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 14
FWCI
3.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Brain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • reroDoc Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • IRIS (submittedVersion)
  • Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
  • RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion)
  • Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • ETH Zürich Research Collection
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Vanderbilt University
  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • University College Cork
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
  • RWTH Aachen University
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Hereditary Neurological Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Cellular transport and secretion
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Clinical Neurology › Peripheral Neuropathies and Disorders
Keywords
SH3TC2, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, peripheral nerve myelination, Schwann cells, Rab11, endosomal recycling, membrane trafficking, myelination
MeSH terms
rab11 GTP-Binding Proteins, Animals, Carrier Proteins, Cell Line, Chlorocebus aethiops, Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, Ganglia, Spinal, Humans, Mutation, Myelin Sheath, Peripheral Nerves, Endosomes, Schwann Cells, Sciatic Nerve, Mice, Knockout, COS Cells, rab GTP-Binding Proteins, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Mice, Rats

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