International Mammalian Genome Society

17th International Mouse Genome Conference

9-12 November 2003, Braunschweig, Germany

Plenary Presentations * Oral Presentations *
Poster Presentations: Behavioural Genetics and Genomics * Development and Stem Cells * Functional Genome Analysis * Mouse Models of Human Disease * Mouse System Biology Bioinformatics * Multigenic and Multifactorial Trait Analysis * Nutrition and Metabolic Disease * Phenotyping Methods Imaging * The Genetics and Genomics of Infectious Disease *
Verne Chapman Memorial Lecture * Table of Contents * Sponsor/Exhibitor List * Awards * Photographs

---

POSTER 108 - TRUNCATION OF THE SHAKER-LIKE VOLTAGE-GATED POTASSIUM CHANNEL, KV1.1, CAUSES MEGENCEPHALY

Persson A-S
Department of Molecular Medicine

Co-Authors: 1) Petersson S, 1) Johansen J, 2) Ingvar M, 3) Nilsson J, 3) Klement G, 3) Århem P, 1) Schalling M, 1) Lavebratt C
Institutions: 1) Department of Molecular Medicine, 2) Department of Clinical Neuroscience, 3) Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

The megencephaly mouse, mceph/mceph, displays dramatically increased brain volume and hypertrophic brain cells. Despite overall enlargement, the mceph/mceph brain appears structurally normal, without edema, hydrocephaly or leukodystrophy, and with only minor astrocytosis. Furthermore, it presents striking disturbances in expression of trophic and neuromodulating factors within the hippocampus and cortex. Using a positional cloning approach we have identified the mceph mutation. We show that mceph/mceph mice carry an eleven base pair deletion in the gene encoding the Shaker-like voltage-gated potassium channel subtype 1, Kcna1. The mutation leads to a frame shift and the predicted MCEPH protein is truncated at amino acid 230 (out of 495), terminating with six aberrant amino acids. The expression of Kcna1 mRNA is increased in the mceph/mceph brain. The putative MCEPH protein retains only the N-terminal domains for channel-assembly and may congregate non-functional complexes of multiple Shaker-like subunits. Indeed, whereas Kcna2 and Kcna3 mRNA expression is normal, the mceph/mceph hippocampus displays decreased amount of Kv1.2 and Kv1.3 proteins, suggesting interactions at the protein level. We show that mceph/mceph mice have disturbed brain electrophysiology and experience recurrent seizures, in agreement with the abnormal electrical brain activity found in Shaker mutants. However, in contrast to the commonly demonstrated epilepsy-induced neurodegeneration, we find that the mceph mutation leads to seizures with a concomitant increase in brain size, without overt neural atrophy.