Absence of mutations in the LGI1 receptor ADAM22 gene in autosomal dominant lateral temporal epilepsy

Mutations in the LGI 1 (leucine-rich, glioma inactivated 1)gene are found in less than a half of the families with autosomal dominant lateral temporal epilepsy (ADLTE), suggesting that ADLTE is a genetically heterogeneous disorder. Recently, it was shown that LGI1 is released by neurons and becomes part of a protein complex at the neuronal postsynaptic density where it is implicated in the regulation of glutamate-AMPA neurotransmission. Within this complex, LGI1 binds selectively to a neuronal specific membrane protein, ADAM22 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease). Since ADAM22 serves as a neuronal receptor for LGI1, the ADAM22 gene was considered a good candidate gene for ADLTE. We have therefore sequenced all coding exons and exon-intron flanking sites in the ADAM22 gene in the probands of 18 ADLTE families negative for LGI1 mutations. Although, we identified