Cited by 600Epilepsy research and treatmentIon channel regulation and functionPharmacological Effects and Toxicity Studies

Genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity suggest therapeutic implications in SCN2A-related disorders

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Wolff, Markus, Johannesen, Katrine M., Hedrich, Ulrike B. S., Masnada, Silvia, Rubboli, Guido, Gardella, Elena, Lesca, Gaetan, Ville, Dorothée +77 more·2017·Brain

Abstract

Mutations in SCN2A, a gene encoding the voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.2, have been associated with a spectrum of epilepsies and neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we report the phenotypes of 71 patients and review 130 previously reported patients. We found that (i) encephalopathies with infantile/childhood onset epilepsies (≥3 months of age) occur almost as often as those with an early infantile onset (<3 months), and are thus more frequent than previously reported; (ii) distinct phenotypes can be seen within the late onset group, including myoclonic-atonic epilepsy (two patients), Lennox-Gastaut not emerging from West syndrome (two patients), and focal epilepsies with an electrical status epilepticus during slow sleep-like EEG pattern (six patients); and (iii) West syndrome constitutes a common phenotype with a major recurring mutation (p.Arg853Gln: two new and four previously reported children). Other known phenotypes include Ohtahara syndrome, epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures, and intellectual disability or autism without epilepsy. To assess the response to antiepileptic therapy, we retrospectively reviewed the treatment regimen and the course of the epilepsy in 66 patients for which well-documented medical information was available. We find that the use of sodium channel blockers was often associated with clinically relevant seizure reduction or seizure freedom in children with early infantile epilepsies (<3 months), whereas other antiepileptic drugs were less effective. In contrast, sodium channel blockers were rarely effective in epilepsies with later onset (≥3 months) and sometimes induced seizure worsening. Regarding the genetic findings, truncating mutations were exclusively seen in patients with late onset epilepsies and lack of response to sodium channel blockers. Functional characterization of four selected missense mutations using whole cell patch-clamping in tsA201 cells-together with data from the literature-suggest that mutations associated with early infantile epilepsy result in increased sodium channel activity with gain-of-function, characterized by slowing of fast inactivation, acceleration of its recovery or increased persistent sodium current. Further, a good response to sodium channel blockers clinically was found to be associated with a relatively small gain-of-function. In contrast, mutations in patients with late-onset forms and an insufficient response to sodium channel blockers were associated with loss-of-function effects, including a depolarizing shift of voltage-dependent activation or a hyperpolarizing shift of channel availability (steady-state inactivation). Our clinical and experimental data suggest a correlation between age at disease onset, response to sodium channel blockers and the functional properties of mutations in children with SCN2A-related epilepsy.

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  • Benign familial infantile seizures are characterized by infantile-onset seizures before 12 months of age that resolve by 2 years of age without overt long-term neuropsychiatric sequelae.

    “2) benign (familial) infantile seizures (BIS), characterized by infantile-onset seizures, before 12 months of age, that resolve by 2 years of age without overt long-term neuropsychiatric sequelae;”

    From Progress in Understanding and Treating SCN2A-Mediated Disorders (2018) · cites this paper as [25]

    The Benign (familial) neonatal/infantile seizures section (p. 5) reports seizure freedom by age 2 and normal cognitive development in most cases. But onset ranged up to 23 months, one patient had isolated seizures at age 14, and another developed partial cognitive deterioration. The categorical age limits and absence of long-term sequelae therefore overstate the source. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Infantile epileptic encephalopathy is characterized by infantile-onset seizures before 12 months of age followed by neurodevelopmental delay.

    “1) infantile epileptic encephalopathy (IEE), characterized by infantile-onset seizures, before 12 months of age, followed by neurodevelopmental delay;”

    From Progress in Understanding and Treating SCN2A-Mediated Disorders (2018) · cites this paper as [25]

    The classification in “Previously unpublished patients” (p. 4) links early infantile epilepsy to seizures before 3 months and impaired cognitive development; the patient description (p. 5) likewise reports onset within 3 months and intellectual disability. These passages support early seizures and developmental impairment, but they do not establish that delay followed the seizures or define this group by a before-12-month cutoff. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Autism spectrum disorder/intellectual disability is characterized by global developmental delay, particularly in social and language milestones.

    “3) autism spectrum disorder/intellectual disability (ASD/ID), characterized by global developmental delay, particularly of social and language milestones.”

    From Progress in Understanding and Treating SCN2A-Mediated Disorders (2018) · cites this paper as [25]

    The section “Intellectual disability and/or autism without epilepsy” (p. 7) reports SCN2A-related cases with autism and moderate to severe intellectual disability. It does not characterize this subgroup as having global developmental delay, particularly in social and language milestones; searches for those developmental features found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • SCN2A variants are primarily associated with three distinct disorders: infantile epileptic encephalopathy, benign familial infantile seizures, and autism spectrum disorder/intellectual disability.

    “Variants in SCN2A are primarily associated with three distinct disorders [24,25]: 1) infantile epileptic encephalopathy (IEE), characterized by infantile-onset seizures, before 12 months of age, followed by neurodevelopmental delay; 2) benign (familial) infantile seizures (BIS), characterized by infantile-onset seizures, before 12 months of age, that resolve by 2 years of age without overt long-t”

    From Progress in Understanding and Treating SCN2A-Mediated Disorders (2018) · cites this paper as [25]

    The classification in ‘Previously unpublished patients’ (p. 4) supports the broad association with benign neonatal/infantile seizures, epileptic encephalopathy, and intellectual disability or autism without epilepsy. But it distinguishes four groups, including a separate encephalopathy group with infantile or childhood epilepsy; the source does not limit that group to infantile onset. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • A subsequent publication of 71 novel SCN2A patients from Europe further supports the model proposed by Ben-Shalom et al.

    “The subsequent publication of 71 novel SCN2A patients from Europe [25] further support the model proposed in Ben-Shalom et al.. [26].”

    From Progress in Understanding and Treating SCN2A-Mediated Disorders (2018) · cites this paper as [25]

    The Previously unpublished patients section (p. 4) reports 71 previously unreported patients with SCN2A mutations. The paper also reports findings consistent with the cited sentence’s model-supporting interpretation: early-onset epilepsy was associated with gain-of-function effects, and later-onset epilepsy with loss-of-function effects (p. 1; Functional studies, p. 18). Our copy does not establish that all 71 patients were from Europe; it says they were referred through a network of collaborators. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Authors
Wolff, M., Johannesen, K. M., Hedrich, U. B. S., Masnada, S., Rubboli, G., Gardella, E., Lesca, G., Ville, D., Milh, M., Villard, L., Afenjar, A., Chantot-Bastaraud, S., Mignot, C., Lardennois, C., Nava, C., Schwarz, N., Gérard, M., Perrin, L., Doummar, D., Auvin, S., Miranda, M. J., Hempel, M., Brilstra, E., Knoers, N., Verbeek, N., van Kempen, M., Braun, K. P., Mancini, G., Biskup, S., Hörtnagel, K., Döcker, M., Bast, T., Loddenkemper, T., Wong-Kisiel, L., Baumeister, F. M., Fazeli, W., Striano, P., Dilena, R., Fontana, E., Zara, F., Kurlemann, G., Klepper, J., Thoene, J. G., Arndt, D. H., Deconinck, N., Schmitt-Mechelke, T., Maier, O., Muhle, H., Wical, B., Finetti, C., Brückner, R., Pietz, J., Golla, G., Jillella, D., Linnet, K. M., Charles, P., Moog, U., Õiglane-Shlik, E., Mantovani, J. F., Park, K., Deprez, M., Lederer, D., Mary, S., Scalais, E., Selim, L., Van Coster, R., Lagae, L., Nikanorova, M., Hjalgrim, H., Korenke, G. C., Trivisano, M., Specchio, N., Ceulemans, B., Dorn, T., Helbig, K. L., Hardies, K., Stamberger, H., de Jonghe, P., Weckhuysen, S., Lemke, J. R., Krägeloh-Mann, I., Helbig, I., Kluger, G., Lerche, H., & Møller, R. S.
Affiliations
  • University Children's Hospital Tübingen (DE)
  • University of Southern Denmark (DK)
  • Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (DE)
  • University of Pavia (IT)
  • University of Copenhagen (DK)
  • 7 Department of Genetics, Lyon University Hospital, Lyon, France
  • 10 Department of Pediatric Neurology and Reference Center for Rare Children Epilepsy and Tuberous Sclerosis, Hôpital Femme Mere Enfant, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lyon, HCL, France
  • Inserm (FR)
  • Hôpital Armand-Trousseau (FR)
  • 13 AP-HP, Unité de Gènètique Clinique, Hôpital Armand Trousseau, Groupe Hospitalier Universitaire de l’Est Parisien, Paris, France
  • Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (FR)
  • 15 Service de Pediatrie neonatale et Réanimation - Neuropediatrie, 76000 Rouen, France
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Caen Normandie (FR)
  • Herlev Hospital (DK)
  • University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
  • University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
  • 25 Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • Erasmus MC (NL)
  • CeGaT (Germany) (DE)
  • Diakonie Kork (DE)
  • Boston Children's Hospital (US)
  • 31 Division of Child and Adolescent Neurology, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN, USA
  • RoMed Kliniken (DE)
  • University Hospital Cologne (DE)
  • Istituto Giannina Gaslini (IT)
  • Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico (IT)
  • 36 Centro di Diagnosi e Cura delle Epilessie Infantili, Azienda Ospedaliera -Policlinico Gianbattista Rossi, Verona, Italy
  • University of Münster (DE)
  • Klinikum Aschaffenburg (DE)
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • Oakland University (US)
  • Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE)
  • 43 Children’s Hospital Lucerne, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Kinderspital Luzern, CH-6000 Luzern 16, Switzerland
  • Ostschweizer Kinderspital (CH)
  • Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
  • Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare (US)
  • Elisabeth-Krankenhaus Essen (DE)
  • 48 Wangen, Germany
  • University Hospital Heidelberg (DE)
  • Klinikum Lippe (DE)
  • Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
  • 55 Children’s Clinic, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
  • Sisters of Mercy Health System (US)
  • Children's Hospital Colorado (US)
  • Institute of Pathology and Genetics (BE)
  • Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (LU)
  • Cairo University (EG)
  • 61 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology and Metabolism, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
  • Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven (BE)
  • 2 The Danish Epilepsy Centre, Dianalund, Denmark
  • 63 Zentrum für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin (Elisabeth Kinderkrankenhaus), Klinik für Neuropädiatrie u. Angeborene, Stoffwechselerkrankungen, Oldenburg, Germany
  • Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital (IT)
  • University of Antwerp (BE)
  • Swiss Epilepsy Center (CH)
  • Ambry Genetics (United States) (US)
  • 68 Neurogenetics Group, Center for Molecular Neurology, VIB, Antwerp, Belgium
  • University Hospital Leipzig (DE)
  • 1 Department of Pediatric Neurology and Developmental Medicine, University Children’s Hospital, Tübingen, Germany
  • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
  • Schön Klinik Vogtareuth (DE)
Venue
Brain
Published
2017-04-04
Volume
140
Issue
5
Pages
1316-1336
ISSN
  • 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2156
OpenAlex
W2604505267
Cited by
600
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 64 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 67 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 84 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 79 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 20
FWCI
45.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Brain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Kölner Universitäts PublikationsServer (Universität zu Köln) (publishedVersion)
  • Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (publishedVersion)
  • Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (publishedVersion)
  • Dépôt institutionnel de l'Université libre de Bruxelles (Université Libre de Bruxelles) (submittedVersion)
  • EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion)
  • RePub (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • HAL AMU (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • CINECA IRIS Institutial Research Information System (University of Genoa) (submittedVersion)
  • Scopus (Elsevier) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (submittedVersion)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • German Research Foundation (HE5415/3-1, DFG, HE5415/5-1, HE 5415/6-1)
  • German Ministry for Education and Research (01DH12033, MAR 10/012)
  • German chapter of the International League Against Epilepsy (DGfE)
  • EU FP7 project EpiPGX (279062)
  • European Science Foundation (DFG grant Le1030/11-2)
  • German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) (01GM1105A)
  • ESF/Euro-Epinomics (GA136.11.N, FWO/ESF-ECRP)
  • Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (1125416N)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Epilepsy research and treatment
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Ion channel regulation and function
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pharmacological Effects and Toxicity Studies
Keywords
SCN2A, Nav1.2, voltage-gated sodium channels, infantile epilepsy, West syndrome, sodium channel blockers, antiepileptic drug response, gain-of-function mutations, loss-of-function mutations, channel inactivation kinetics, persistent sodium current, phenotypic heterogeneity, neurodevelopmental disorders, epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures, Ohtahara syndrome
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Denmark, Epilepsy, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Mutation, Phenotype, Age of Onset, Sodium Channel Blockers, Young Adult, NAV1.2 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, Neurodevelopmental Disorders

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