Genetics advances in autosomal dominant focal epilepsies: focus on DEPDC5

Rare multiplex families with autosomal dominant focal epilepsies have been described with specific age-related and electroclinical syndromes: autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (ADNFLE), familial temporal lobe epilepsy (FTLE), and familial focal epilepsy with variable foci (FFEVF). Molecular genetic advances in inherited focal epilepsies have pinpointed their genetic heterogeneity and the fact that they are mediated by different biological pathways: ion channel subunit genes have been linked to ADNFLE (CHRNA4, CHRNA2, CHRNB2, and KCNT1, encoding, respectively, the alpha 4, alpha 2, and beta 2 subunits of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, and a potassium channel subunit); neuronal secreted protein (LGII-encoding epitempin) has been linked to autosomal dominant epilepsy with auditory features; and mTORC1-repressor DEPDC5 (DEP domain-containing protein 5) gene has recently been reported in a broad spectrum of inherited focal epilepsies (ADNFLE, FTLE, FFEVF). This chapter focuses on DEPDC5, a newly identified gene.