Nadia Skauli

• Rao, Shreyas Balachandra; Katoozi, Shirin; Skauli, Nadia; Froehner, Stanley C.; Ottersen, Ole Petter; Adams, Marvin E. & Amiry-Moghaddam, Mahmood (2019). Targeted deletion of β1-syntrophin causes a loss of Kir 4.1 from Müller cell endfeet in mouse retina. Glia.  ISSN 0894-1491.  67(6), s 1138- 1149 . doi: 10.1002/glia.23600
• Stahl, Katja; Rahmani, Soulmaz; Prydz, Agnete; Skauli, Nadia; MacAulay, Nanna; Mylonakou, Maria-Niki; Torp, Reidun; Skare, Øivind; Berg, Torill; Leergaard, Trygve Brauns; Paulsen, Ragnhild Elisabeth; Ottersen, Ole Petter & Amiry-Moghaddam, Mahmood (2018). Targeted deletion of the aquaglyceroporin AQP9 is protective in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. PLOS ONE.  ISSN 1932-6203.  13(3) . doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194896 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  More than 90% of the cases of Parkinson’s disease have unknown etiology. Gradual loss of dopaminergic neurons of substantia nigra is the main cause of morbidity in this disease. External factors such as environmental toxins are believed to play a role in the cell loss, although the cause of the selective vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons remains unknown. We have previously shown that aquaglyceroporin AQP9 is expressed in dopaminergic neurons and astrocytes of rodent brain. AQP9 is permeable to a broad spectrum of substrates including purines, pyrimidines, and lactate, in addition to water and glycerol. Here we test our hypothesis that AQP9 serves as an influx route for exogenous toxins and, hence, may contribute to the selective vulnerability of nigral dopaminergic (tyrosine hydroxylase-positive) neurons. Using Xenopus oocytes injected with Aqp9 cRNA, we show that AQP9 is permeable to the parkinsonogenic toxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+). Stable expression of AQP9 in HEK cells increases their vulnerability to MPP+ and to arsenite—another parkinsonogenic toxin. Conversely, targeted deletion of Aqp9 in mice protects nigral dopaminergic neurons against MPP+ toxicity. A protective effect of Aqp9 deletion was demonstrated in organotypic slice cultures of mouse midbrain exposed to MPP+ in vitro and in mice subjected to intrastriatal injections of MPP+ in vivo. Seven days after intrastriatal MPP+ injections, the population of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive cells in substantia nigra is reduced by 48% in Aqp9 knockout mice compared with 67% in WT littermates. Our results show that AQP9 –selectively expressed in catecholaminergic neurons—is permeable to MPP+ and suggest that this aquaglyceroporin contributes to the selective vulnerability of nigral dopaminergic neurons by providing an entry route for parkinsonogenic toxins. To our knowledge this is the first evidence implicating a toxin permeable membrane channel in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease.

• Katoozi, Shirin; Skauli, Nadia; Rahmani, Soulmaz; Camassa, Laura Maria Azzurra; Boldt, Henning Bunsow; Ottersen, Ole Petter & Amiry-Moghaddam, Mahmood (2017). Targeted deletion of Aqp4 promotes the formation of astrocytic gap junctions. Brain Structure and Function.  ISSN 1863-2653.  s 1- 14 . doi: 10.1007/s00429-017-1448-5
• Skauli, Nadia; Wallace, Sean Ciaran; Chiang, Samuel C.C.; Barøy, Tuva; Holmgren, Asbjørn; Stray-Pedersen, Asbjørg; Bryceson, Yenan T.; Strømme, Petter; Frengen, Eirik & Misceo, Doriana (2016). Novel PIGT Variant in Two Brothers: Expansion of the Multiple Congenital Anomalies-Hypotonia Seizures Syndrome 3 Phenotype. Genes.  ISSN 2073-4425.  7(12) . doi: 10.3390/genes7120108 Show summary

  Biallelic PIGT variants were previously reported in seven patients from three families with Multiple Congenital Anomalies-Hypotonia Seizures Syndrome 3 (MCAHS3), characterized by epileptic encephalopathy, hypotonia, global developmental delay/intellectual disability, cerebral and cerebellar atrophy, craniofacial dysmorphisms, and skeletal, ophthalmological, cardiac, and genitourinary abnormalities. We report a novel homozygous PIGT missense variant c.1079G>T (p.Gly360Val) in two brothers with several of the typical features of MCAHS3, but in addition, pyramidal tract neurological signs. Notably, they are the first patients with MCAHS3 without skeletal, cardiac, or genitourinary anomalies. PIGT encodes a crucial subunit of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) transamidase complex, which catalyzes the attachment of proteins to GPI-anchors, attaching the proteins to the cell membrane. In vitro studies in cells from the two brothers showed reduced levels of GPI-anchors and GPI-anchored proteins on the cell surface, supporting the pathogenicity of the novel PIGT variant.

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