Inhibition of G-protein signalling in cardiac dysfunction of intellectual developmental disorder with cardiac arrhythmia (IDDCA) syndrome.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Pathogenic variants of GNB5 encoding the β5 subunit of the guanine nucleotide-binding protein cause IDDCA syndrome, an autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental disorder associated with cognitive disability and cardiac arrhythmia, particularly severe bradycardia.

METHODS:

We used echocardiography and telemetric ECG recordings to investigate consequences of Gnb5 loss in mouse.

RESULTS:

We delineated a key role of Gnb5 in heart sinus conduction and showed that Gnb5-inhibitory signalling is essential for parasympathetic control of heart rate (HR) and maintenance of the sympathovagal balance. Gnb5-/- mice were smaller and had a smaller heart than Gnb5+/+ and Gnb5+/- , but exhibited better cardiac function. Lower autonomic nervous system modulation through diminished parasympathetic control and greater sympathetic regulation resulted in a higher baseline HR in Gnb5-/- mice. In contrast, Gnb5-/- mice exhibited profound bradycardia on treatment with carbachol, while sympathetic modulation of the cardiac stimulation was not altered. Concordantly, transcriptome study pinpointed altered expression of genes involved in cardiac muscle contractility in atria and ventricles of knocked-out mice. Homozygous Gnb5 loss resulted in significantly higher frequencies of sinus arrhythmias. Moreover, we described 13 affected individuals, increasing the IDDCA cohort to 44 patients.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our data demonstrate that loss of negative regulation of the inhibitory G-protein signalling causes HR perturbations in Gnb5-/- mice, an effect mainly driven by impaired parasympathetic activity. We anticipate that unravelling the mechanism of Gnb5 signalling in the autonomic control of the heart will pave the way for future drug screening.

• Authors: Pasquelena De Nittis, Stephanie Efthymiou, Alexandre Sarre, Nicolas Guex, Jacqueline Chrast, Audrey Putoux, Tipu Sultan, Javeria Raza Alvi, Zia Ur Rahman, Faisal Zafar, Nuzhat Rana, Fatima Rahman, Najwa Anwar, Shazia Maqbool, Maha S Zaki, Joseph G Gleeson, David Murphy, Hamid Galehdari, Gholamreza Shariati, Neda Mazaheri, Alireza Sedaghat, SYNAPS Study Group, Gaetan Lesca, Nicolas Chatron, Vincenzo Salpietro, Marilena Christoforou, Henry Houlden, William F Simonds, Thierry Pedrazzini, Reza Maroofian, Alexandre Reymond
• Journal: Journal of medical genetics (J Med Genet) Vol. 58 Issue 12 Pg. 815-831 (12 2021) ISSN: 1468-6244 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 33172956 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.

Chemical References

• GNB5 protein, human
• GTP-Binding Protein beta Subunits

Topics

• Adolescent
• Animals
• Arrhythmias, Cardiac (genetics, physiopathology)
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Developmental Disabilities (genetics, physiopathology)
• Female
• GTP-Binding Protein beta Subunits (genetics, metabolism)
• Gene Expression Profiling (methods)
• Heart (physiopathology)
• Heart Rate (genetics, physiology)
• Humans
• Male
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Mice, Knockout
• Mutation
• Pedigree
• Signal Transduction (genetics)
• Syndrome
• Exome Sequencing (methods)
• Young Adult
• Mice