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Novel SCN9A mutations underlying extreme pain phenotypes: unexpected electrophysiological and clinical phenotype correlations.


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Authors

Emery, Edward C 
Habib, Abdella M 
Cox, James J 
Nicholas, Adeline K 
Gribble, Fiona M 

Abstract

The importance of NaV1.7 (encoded by SCN9A) in the regulation of pain sensing is exemplified by the heterogeneity of clinical phenotypes associated with its mutation. Gain-of-function mutations are typically pain-causing and have been associated with inherited erythromelalgia (IEM) and paroxysmal extreme pain disorder (PEPD). IEM is usually caused by enhanced NaV1.7 channel activation, whereas mutations that alter steady-state fast inactivation often lead to PEPD. In contrast, nonfunctional mutations in SCN9A are known to underlie congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP). Although well documented, the correlation between SCN9A genotypes and clinical phenotypes is still unclear. Here we report three families with novel SCN9A mutations. In a multiaffected dominant family with IEM, we found the heterozygous change L245 V. Electrophysiological characterization showed that this mutation did not affect channel activation but instead resulted in incomplete fast inactivation and a small hyperpolarizing shift in steady-state slow inactivation, characteristics more commonly associated with PEPD. In two compound heterozygous CIP patients, we found mutations that still retained functionality of the channels, with two C-terminal mutations (W1775R and L1831X) exhibiting a depolarizing shift in channel activation. Two mutations (A1236E and L1831X) resulted in a hyperpolarizing shift in steady-state fast inactivation. To our knowledge, these are the first descriptions of mutations with some retained channel function causing CIP. This study emphasizes the complex genotype-phenotype correlations that exist for SCN9A and highlights the C-terminal cytoplasmic region of NaV1.7 as a critical region for channel function, potentially facilitating analgesic drug development studies.

Description

Keywords

Nav1.7, SCN9A, congenital insensitivity to pain, inherited erythromelalgia, pain, paroxysmal extreme pain disorder, Child, Erythromelalgia, Female, HEK293 Cells, Humans, Ion Channel Gating, Male, Mutation, Missense, NAV1.7 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, Pain, Pain Insensitivity, Congenital, Pedigree, Phenotype, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Rectum

Journal Title

J Neurosci

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0270-6474
1529-2401

Volume Title

35

Publisher

Society for Neuroscience
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12012/3)
Medical Research Council (MR/J012742/1)
Medical Research Council (MC_PC_12012)
J.J.C. and A.M.H. were supported by an MRC Research Career Development fellowship. F.M.G., F.R., and E.C.E. were supported by Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowships WT088357/Z/09/Z and WT084210/Z/07/Z and MRC Grant MC_UU_12012/3. C.G.W. was supported by the Cambridge Biomedical Research Campus.