A patient-derived mutation of epilepsy-linked LGI1 increases seizure susceptibility through regulating K(v)1.1

BACKGROUND: Autosomal dominant lateral temporal epilepsy (ADLTE) is an inherited syndrome caused by mutations in the leucine-rich glioma inactivated 1 (LGI1) gene. It is known that functional LGI1 is secreted by excitatory neurons, GABAergic interneurons, and astrocytes, and regulates AMPA-type glutamate receptor-mediated synaptic transmission by binding ADAM22 and ADAM23. However, > 40 LGI1 mutations have been reported in familial ADLTE patients, more than half of which are secretion-defective. How these secretion-defective LGI1 mutations lead to epilepsy is unknown. RESULTS: We identified a novel secretion-defective LGI1 mutation from a Chinese ADLTE family, LGI1-W183R. We specifically expressed mutant LGI1(W183R) in excitatory neurons lacking natural LGI1, and found that this mutation downregulated K(v)1.1 activity, led to neuronal hyperexcitability and irregular spiking, and increased epilepsy susceptibility in mice. Further analysis revealed that restoring K(v)1.1 in excitatory neurons rescued the defect of spiking capacity, improved epilepsy susceptibility, and prolonged the life-span of mice. CONCLUSIONS: These results describe a role of secretion-defective LGI1 in maintaining neuronal excitability and reveal a new mechanism in the pathology of LGI1 mutation-related epilepsy. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13578-023-00983-y.