Christel Depienne
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christeldepienne.bsky.social
Christel Depienne
@christeldepienne.bsky.social
Molecular geneticist | Neurogenetics | repeat expansions | chromosome X | snRNAs | and more
It represents the PhD work of Pierre Tilliole (Godin lab) and Carolin Mattausch (my group) with the contribution from Elsa Leitão .

Many thanks to all 3 of them, to Juliette, to all families who participated, clinicians and all collaborators who made this long-term effort possible. 🙏
October 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
These results highlight functional retrocopies as an overlooked layer of genetic robustness and evolutionary innovation in mammalian brain development.

This study is the result of >10 years of work in my group, in close collaboration with Juliette Godin’s group at IGBMC, Strasbourg.
October 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
🧠Pathogenic RBMX variants perturb cortical development through both partial loss-of-function and gain-of-function mechanisms.
October 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
🐁Mice possess two Rbmxl1 retrocopies that arose independently from the human RBMXL1. Rbmx-deficient mice exhibit unexpectedly mild cortical phenotypes mirroring the defects seen in patients, likely due to better compensation by Rbmxl1.
October 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
👯‍♂️RBMX and RBMXL1 are both expressed during brain development, share protein and RNA partners and function, and act redundantly during corticogenesis.
October 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
🧬RBMX has a close autosomal retrocopy, RBMXL1, sharing ~95% sequence identity with RBMX in humans
October 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
🧬Hemizygous RBMX variants on chromosome X cause neurodevelopmental disorders in males, with intellectual disability, microcephaly, brain malformations, and microphthalmia.
October 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Using human genetics and complementary ex vivo, in vitro, and in vivo functional approaches, we uncover a critical role for the RBMX retrocopy, RBMXL1, in brain development, possibly also modulating the phenotype associated with pathogenic RBMX variants.
October 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Congrats to you as well!
Amazing to see how different approaches led to outcomes that are both similar and wonderfully complementary 😊
September 8, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Elsa Leitao
Amandine Santini
Benjamin Cogne
Myriam Essie
Clément Charenton
Camille Charbonnier
Gaetan Lesca
Caroline Nava
@hcmefford.bsky.social @nickywhiffin.bsky.social
@cwlaflamme.bsky.social
And many many others
September 5, 2025 at 3:50 PM
This study brought together >200 collaborators worldwide and would not have been possible without the contribution of the Plan France Médecine Génomique (PFMG). 🙏
September 5, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Importantly, these findings are independently supported by two other preprints, including one posted the exact same day:
📄 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Biallelic variants in RNU2-2 cause a remarkably frequent developmental epileptic encephalopathy
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) affect 2-4% of the population, are predominantly genetic, and remain unsolved in ~50% of individuals. We show that rare biallelic variants in RNU2-2 are enriched an...
www.medrxiv.org
September 5, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Transcriptomic and DNA methylation analyses showed subtle, variant-specific effects on splicing and episignatures.
Our results support a continuum between dominant and recessive disorders and establish RNU2-2 DEE as nearly as frequent as ReNU syndrome (RNU4-2),
September 5, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Remarkably, recessive RNU2-2 DEE is at least twice as common as the dominant form.
It often arises from a de novo variant in trans with an inherited allele, reflecting the high mutability of snRNA genes.
September 5, 2025 at 3:44 PM
We analyzed 200 potentially functional spliceosomal snRNA genes in 26,911 individuals with rare disorders.
This revealed de novo (dominant) or biallelic (recessive) RNU2-2 variants in 126 individuals from 108 families.
September 5, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Christel Depienne
Next up: Amandine Santini

International study led by
@christeldepienne.bsky.social
145 ReNU syndrome individuals- T-loop variants associated with higher phenotypic severity and more 5'splice site disruption (19 cases).

35 cases/45 controls - identify a shared episignature.

#eshg2025 1/2
www.nature.com
May 25, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Reposted by Christel Depienne
Driven by the absolutely incredible families - it is truly amazing and humbling to watch!!

Meet some of them here: www.renusyndrome.org/renu-hope-vi...

❤️🥹

@anneotation.bsky.social @dgmacarthur.bsky.social @christeldepienne.bsky.social #renuCrew
www.renusyndrome.org
April 30, 2025 at 9:53 AM
We report a new configuration of repeat expansion in MARCHF6 (FAME3) consisting in elongated TTTTA repeats and only 5-11 TTTCA. This expansion segregates in two unrelated families with myoclonus without epilepsy.
April 9, 2025 at 7:24 PM