Pathological disruption of CELF2 shuttling causes neuronal hyperactivity, learning deficits, and seizures.
Overview
and 33 other authors
Zornitza Stark18,19, Richard J Leventer18,19, George McGillivray18, Frederic Tran Mau-Them16, Marine Tessarech20,21, Clément Prouteau22, Phillis Lakeman23,24, Mahdi M Motazacker23, Donald R Latner25, Raymond C Caylor26, Yvette van Ierland27, Eloise Prijoles26, Angie Lichty26, Evangelos Theodorou28, David A Sweetser28, Edward Steel29, Jan Cobben30, Majed J Dasouki31, Daniel G Calame32,33,34, Bertrand Isidor35,36, Benjamin Cogné35,36, Mitchell Kesler2,6,7, Brooke Rackel2, Isabel Clark2, Deborah M Kurrasch2,6,7, G Campbell Teskey4, James Ellis37, Guiqiong He9, Scott D Ryan5, Douglas J Mahoney1,6,8,38, A Micheil Innes2,6, Jonathan R Epp4,7, Guang Yang1,2,6,7,3939 affiliations
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and
- Department of Medical Genetics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Cumming School of Medicine
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine; and
- Annie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Center for Neuroscience Research, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
- Service de Génétique Clinique, Centre de Référence «Anomalies du Développement et Syndromes Malformatifs» de l’Inter-région Ouest, CHU Rennes Hôpital Sud, Rennes, France
- Department of Genetics, La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Assistance Publique Hospital of Paris, Paris, France
- Sorbonne University, Paris, France
- Institute of Human Genetics, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
- Department of Human Genetics, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
- Service de Génétique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Caen, Caen, Basse-Normandie, France
- Université Bourgogne Europe, CHU Dijon Bourgogne, Laboratoire de Génomique Médicale, Centre Neomics, FHU TRANSLAD, Centre de recherche Translationnelle en Médecine moléculaire – INSERM UMR1231, équipe GAD, Dijon, France
- Laboratoire de Génétique, Hôpital de Mercy, CHR Metz-Thionville, Metz, France
- Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Medical Genetics, Angers University Hospital, Angers, France
- Mitovasc Unit, UMR CNRS 6015 INSERM 1083, University of Angers, Angers, France
- Service de Génétique Médicale, CHU d’Angers, Angers, France
- Amsterdam UMC, Department of Human Genetics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Amsterdam Reproduction & Development Research Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
- Greenwood Genetic Center, Greenwood, South Carolina, USA
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Divisions of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Medical Genetics and Metabolism, Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Clinical Genetics, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, United Kingdom
- Section of Genomics and Genetics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- AdventHealth Genomics & Personalized Health at Orlando, Department of Medical Genetics & Genomics, Orlando, Florida, USA
- Section of Pediatric Neurology and Developmental Neurosciences, Department of Pediatrics, and
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
- Nantes Université, CHU de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l’institut du thorax, Nantes, France
- Nantes Université, CHU de Nantes, Service de Génétique médicale, Nantes, France
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, and
- Owerko Center, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Abstract
De novo heterozygous variants in CUGBP Elav-like family member 2 (CELF2) have recently been associated with a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, yet the mechanisms linking specific variants to distinct clinical phenotypes remain poorly understood. Here, we reported a cohort of 18 individuals and provided evidence that variants causing CELF2 mislocalization, but not protein-null variants, were associated with seizures. Using proband-derived human cortical neurons and transgenic mouse models, we demonstrated that CELF2 underwent activity-dependent nucleocytoplasmic shuttling in excitatory neurons and that its cytoplasmic retention caused neuronal hyperactivity, elevated seizure susceptibility, and learning and memory deficits. We further found that cytoplasmic CELF2 regulated mRNAs critical for synaptic function and neuronal excitability and implicated in epileptic seizures and intellectual disability. Drug screening further identified AKT signaling as a key regulator of CELF2 nucleocytoplasmic shuttling and a candidate target for reversing neuronal hyperactivity. Together, our findings expand the clinical and genetic spectrum of CELF2-related neurodevelopmental disorders and establish a variant-specific mechanism that links CELF2 mislocalization to neuronal hyperactivity, seizures, and cognitive impairment.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Code
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Data
Datasets cited
- geo:GSE325228 — at NCBI GEO; found in “Data availability.”
Data availability
RNA-sequencing data generated in this study are publicly available through the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus under the accession number GSE325228 (https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.
Version 2, 28 September 2026
- Authors: added Boris Keren (0000-0001-6172-8247); Sarah Schuhmann (0000-0002-6775-3547); Georgia Vasileiou (0000-0002-1993-1134); Zornitza Stark (0000-0001-8640-1371); Benjamin Cogné (0000-0002-5503-6292); G Campbell Teskey (0000-0002-8462-355X); A Micheil Innes (0000-0001-9881-5467); removed Boris Keren; Sarah Schuhmann; Georgia Vasileiou; Zornitza Stark; Benjamin Cogné; G Campbell Teskey; A Micheil Innes
Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 53 authors, 6 keywords, 12 MeSH terms, 16 funders, 97 references.
Cite
This paper
Hua, M., Aghanoori, M.-R., MacPherson, M. J., Ren, Y., Siripala, S. V., Yang, Y., Or, Y. Y. Y., Nguyen, M., Duba-Kiss, R., Feng, D., Williams, L., Gafuik, C. J., Wang, G., Quelin, C., Keren, B., Schuhmann, S., Vasileiou, G., Bourgois, A., Vitobello, A., . . . Yang, G. (2026). Pathological disruption of CELF2 shuttling causes neuronal hyperactivity, learning deficits, and seizures. The Journal of clinical investigation, 136(14), e199698. https://
BibTeX
@article{hua2026patholog
author = {Hua, Michelle and Aghanoori, Mohamad-Reza and MacPherson, Melissa J and Ren, Yi and Siripala, Shehani V and Yang, Yifan and Or, Yvonne Yan Yan and Nguyen, Malea and Duba-Kiss, Robert and Feng, Daniel and Williams, Laura and Gafuik, Christopher J and Wang, GengYi and Quelin, Chloe and Keren, Boris and Schuhmann, Sarah and Vasileiou, Georgia and Bourgois, Alexia and Vitobello, Antonio and Philippe, Christophe and Stark, Zornitza and Leventer, Richard J and McGillivray, George and Tran Mau-Them, Frederic and Tessarech, Marine and Prouteau, Clément and Lakeman, Phillis and Motazacker, Mahdi M and Latner, Donald R and Caylor, Raymond C and van Ierland, Yvette and Prijoles, Eloise and Lichty, Angie and Theodorou, Evangelos and Sweetser, David A and Steel, Edward and Cobben, Jan and Dasouki, Majed J and Calame, Daniel G and Isidor, Bertrand and Cogné, Benjamin and Kesler, Mitchell and Rackel, Brooke and Clark, Isabel and Kurrasch, Deborah M and Teskey, G Campbell and Ellis, James and He, Guiqiong and Ryan, Scott D and Mahoney, Douglas J and Innes, A Micheil and Epp, Jonathan R and Yang, Guang},
title = {{Pathological disruption of CELF2 shuttling causes neuronal hyperactivity, learning deficits, and seizures}},
journal = {The Journal of clinical investigation},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
volume = {136},
number = {14},
pages = {e199698},
publisher = {American Society for Clinical Investigation},
issn = {0021-9738},
doi = {10.1172/
url = {https://
pmid = {42275152},
pmcid = {PMC13367967}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Hua, Michelle
AU - Aghanoori, Mohamad-Reza
AU - MacPherson, Melissa J
AU - Ren, Yi
AU - Siripala, Shehani V
AU - Yang, Yifan
AU - Or, Yvonne Yan Yan
AU - Nguyen, Malea
AU - Duba-Kiss, Robert
AU - Feng, Daniel
AU - Williams, Laura
AU - Gafuik, Christopher J
AU - Wang, GengYi
AU - Quelin, Chloe
AU - Keren, Boris
AU - Schuhmann, Sarah
AU - Vasileiou, Georgia
AU - Bourgois, Alexia
AU - Vitobello, Antonio
AU - Philippe, Christophe
AU - Stark, Zornitza
AU - Leventer, Richard J
AU - McGillivray, George
AU - Tran Mau-Them, Frederic
AU - Tessarech, Marine
AU - Prouteau, Clément
AU - Lakeman, Phillis
AU - Motazacker, Mahdi M
AU - Latner, Donald R
AU - Caylor, Raymond C
AU - van Ierland, Yvette
AU - Prijoles, Eloise
AU - Lichty, Angie
AU - Theodorou, Evangelos
AU - Sweetser, David A
AU - Steel, Edward
AU - Cobben, Jan
AU - Dasouki, Majed J
AU - Calame, Daniel G
AU - Isidor, Bertrand
AU - Cogné, Benjamin
AU - Kesler, Mitchell
AU - Rackel, Brooke
AU - Clark, Isabel
AU - Kurrasch, Deborah M
AU - Teskey, G Campbell
AU - Ellis, James
AU - He, Guiqiong
AU - Ryan, Scott D
AU - Mahoney, Douglas J
AU - Innes, A Micheil
AU - Epp, Jonathan R
AU - Yang, Guang
TI - Pathological disruption of CELF2 shuttling causes neuronal hyperactivity, learning deficits, and seizures
T2 - The Journal of clinical investigation
J2 - J Clin Invest
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 136
IS - 14
SP - e199698
SN - 0021-9738
PB - American Society for Clinical Investigation
DO - 10.1172/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
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