Mutations in dynamin 2 (DNM2) lead to dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy type B, while a different set of DNM2 mutations cause autosomal dominant centronuclear myopathy. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the disease mechanisms in dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy type B and to find explanations for the tissue-specific defects that are associated with different DNM2 mutations in dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy type B versus autosomal dominant centronuclear myopathy. We used tissue derived from Dnm2-deficient mice to establish an appropriate peripheral nerve model and found that dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy type B-associated dynamin 2 mutants, but not autosomal dominant centronuclear myopathy mutants, impaired myelination. In contrast to autosomal dominant centronuclear myopathy mutants, Schwann cells and neurons from the peripheral nervous system expressing dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy mutants showed defects in clathrin-mediated endocytosis. We demonstrate that, as a consequence, protein surface levels are altered in Schwann cells. Furthermore, we discovered that myelination is strictly dependent on Dnm2 and clathrin-mediated endocytosis function. Thus, we propose that altered endocytosis is a major contributing factor to the disease mechanisms in dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy type B.

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doi.org/10.1093/brain/aws061, hdl.handle.net/1765/72563
Brain: a journal of neurology
Department of Molecular Genetics

Sidiropoulos, P. N., Miehe, M., de Bock, G., Tinelli, E., Oertli, C., Kuner, T., … Suter, U. (2012). Dynamin 2 mutations in Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy highlight the importance of clathrin-mediated endocytosis in myelination. Brain: a journal of neurology, 135(5), 1395–1411. doi:10.1093/brain/aws061