MeCP2 deficiency is associated with reduced levels of tubulin acetylation and can be restored using HDAC6 inhibitors

Abstract

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder, predominantly caused by loss of functionmutations in the X-linked methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene. Despite the genetic cause being known in the majority of cases, the pathophysiology of the neurological phenotype of RTT is largely unknown. Tubulin and the microtubule network play an essential role in neuronal function whereby the acetylation state of microtubules dictates the efficiency of neuronal migration and differentiation, synaptic targeting and molecular motor trafficking of mRNA, high-energy mitochondria and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)- containing vesicles. Recent reports have shown perturbations in t..