Modelling the pathogenesis of X-linked distal hereditary motor neuropathy using patient-derived iPSCs

• Main Authors: Gonzalo Perez-Siles, Anthony Cutrupi, Melina Ellis, Jakob Kuriakose, Sharon La Fontaine, Di Mao, Motonari Uesugi, Reinaldo I. Takata, Carlos E. Speck-Martins, Garth Nicholson, Marina L. Kennerson, Annemieke Aartsma-Rus, James Dowling, Maaike van Putten
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Company of Biologists 2020-02-01
• Series: Disease Models & Mechanisms
• Subjects: atp7a; copper; induced pluripotent stem cell; motor neurons; dhmn
• Online Access: http://dmm.biologists.org/content/13/2/dmm041541
• ISSN: 1754-8403; 1754-8411

ATP7A encodes a copper-transporting P-type ATPase and is one of 23 genes in which mutations produce distal hereditary motor neuropathy (dHMN), a group of diseases characterized by length-dependent axonal degeneration of motor neurons. We have generated induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived motor neurons from a patient with the p.T994I ATP7A gene mutation as an in vitro model for X-linked dHMN (dHMNX). Patient motor neurons show a marked reduction of ATP7A protein levels in the soma when compared to control motor neurons and failed to upregulate expression of ATP7A under copper-loading conditions. These results recapitulate previous findings obtained in dHMNX patient fibroblasts and in primary cells from a rodent model of dHMNX, indicating that patient iPSC-derived motor neurons will be an important resource for studying the role of copper in the pathogenic processes that lead to axonal degeneration in dHMNX.