MeCP2 AT-Hook1 mutations in patients with intellectual disability and/or schizophrenia disrupt DNA binding and chromatin compaction in vitro

Abstract

Mutations in the methyl-CpG-binding protein-2 gene (MECP2) are commonly associated with Rett syndrome. However, it has long been appreciated that there exists a spectrum of neuropsychiatric phenotypes associated with MECP2 variants. The most frequent Rett missense mutations are located in either the methyl-CpG-binding domain (MBD) or transcription repression domain (TRD). Clinical roles for mutations in other domains such as the intervening domain (ID) or AT-Hook domains have yet to be determined. Here, we report functional analysis of MECP2 missense mutations, located in AT-Hook1 within the ID, in a large Pakistani family with childhood onset cognitive decline and schizophrenia (SCZ), de novo in a girl with atypical Rett syndrome, and de novo in a woman with SCZ. We show that both p.Arg190His and p.Arg190Cys affect the ability of MeCP2 to bind to AT-rich DNA, also the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) promoter, with the more drastic effects seen for p.Arg190Cys. Both mutations also affect nuclear chromatin clustering in vitro. These data support a possible molecular link between MECP2 AT-Hook1 mutations and psychosis. Given the ongoing large-scale whole exome and whole genome sequencing projects for psychiatric disorders, our findings suggest that rare missense variants in MECP2 be carefully evaluated for molecular consequences.

Keywords: AT-Hook domain; EMSA; MeCP2; chromatin; intellectual disability; schizophrenia.