Browsing by Author "Percy, Alan K."

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    MeCP2 Deficiency Leads to Loss of Glial Kir4.1
    Kahanovitch, Uri; Cuddapah, Vishnu A.; Pacheco, Natasha L.; Holt, Leanne M.; Murphy, Daniel K.; Percy, Alan K.; Olsen, Michelle L. (Society for Neuroscience, 2018)
    Rett syndrome is a devastating neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 1 in 10,000–25,000 females. Mutations in methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2), a transcriptional regulator, are responsible for >95% of RTT cases. Recent work has shown that astrocytes contribute significantly to the disorder, although their contribution to this disease is not known. Here, we demonstrate that the critical astrocyte K⁺ channel Kir4.1 is a novel molecular target of MeCP2. MeCP2 deficiency leads to decreased Kcnj10/Kir4.1 mRNA levels, protein expression, and currents. These findings provide novel mechanistic insight and begin to elucidate the role of astrocytes in this disorder.