RHOA signaling defects result in impaired axon guidance in iPSC-derived neurons from patients with tuberous sclerosis complex

Timothy S. Catlett, Massimo M. Onesto, Alec J. McCann, Sarah K. Rempel, Jennifer Glass, David N. Franz and Timothy M. Gómez ()
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Timothy S. Catlett: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Massimo M. Onesto: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Alec J. McCann: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Sarah K. Rempel: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Jennifer Glass: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
David N. Franz: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Timothy M. Gómez: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Patients with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) show aberrant wiring of neuronal connections formed during development which may contribute to symptoms of TSC, such as intellectual disabilities, autism, and epilepsy. Yet models examining the molecular basis for axonal guidance defects in developing human neurons have not been developed. Here, we generate human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines from a patient with TSC and genetically engineer counterparts and isogenic controls. By differentiating hiPSCs, we show that control neurons respond to canonical guidance cues as predicted. Conversely, neurons with heterozygous loss of TSC2 exhibit reduced responses to several repulsive cues and defective axon guidance. While TSC2 is a known key negative regulator of MTOR-dependent protein synthesis, we find that TSC2 signaled through MTOR-independent RHOA in growth cones. Our results suggest that neural network connectivity defects in patients with TSC may result from defects in RHOA-mediated regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics during neuronal development.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22770-4

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