Protein ubiquitination is a posttranslational modification that plays an integral part in mediating diverse cellular functions. The process of protein ubiquitination requires an enzymatic cascade that consists of a ubiquitin activating enzyme (E1), ubiquitin conjugating enzyme (E2) and an E3 ubiquitin ligase (E3). There are an estimated 600–700 E3 ligase genes representing ~5% of the human genome. Not surprisingly, mutations in E3 ligase genes have been observed in multiple neurological conditions. We constructed a comprehensive atlas of disrupted E3 ligase genes in common (CND) and rare neurological diseases (RND). Of the predicted and known human E3 ligase genes, we found ~13% were mutated in a neurological disorder with 83 total genes representing 70 different types of neurological diseases. Of the E3 ligase genes identified, 51 were associated with an RND. Here, we provide an updated list of neurological disorders associated with E3 ligase gene disruption. We further highlight research in these neurological disorders and discuss the advanced technologies used to support these findings.

Labor and a vaginal delivery trigger changes in peripheral organs that prepare the mammalian fetus to survive ex utero. Surprisingly little attention has been given to whether birth also influences the brain, and to how alterations in birth mode affect neonatal brain development. These are important questions, given the high rates of cesarean section (C-section) delivery worldwide, many of which are elective. We examined the effect of birth mode on neuronal cell death, a widespread developmental process that occurs primarily during the first postnatal week in mice. Timed-pregnant dams were randomly assigned to C-section deliveries that were yoked to vaginal births to carefully match gestation length and circadian time of parturition. Compared with rates of cell death just before birth, vaginally-born offspring had an abrupt, transient decrease in cell death in many brain regions, suggesting that a vaginal delivery is neuroprotective. In contrast, cell death was either unchanged or increased in C-section–born mice. Effects of delivery mode on cell death were greatest for the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), which is central to the stress response and brain–immune interactions. The greater cell death in the PVN of C-section–delivered newborns was associated with a reduction in the number of PVN neurons expressing vasopressin at weaning. C-section–delivered mice also showed altered vocalizations in a maternal separation test and greater body mass at weaning. Our results suggest that vaginal birth acutely impacts brain development, and that alterations in birth mode may have lasting consequences.

Long-standing clinical findings report a dramatic surge of vasopressin in umbilical cord blood of the human neonate, but the neural underpinnings and function(s) of this phenomenon remain obscure. We studied neural activation in perinatal mice and rats, and found that birth triggers activation of the suprachiasmatic, supraoptic, and paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus. This was seen whether mice were born vaginally or via Cesarean section (C-section), and when birth timing was experimentally manipulated. Neuronal phenotyping showed that the activated neurons were predominantly vasopressinergic, and vasopressin mRNA increased fivefold in the hypothalamus during the 2–3 days before birth. Copeptin, a surrogate marker of vasopressin, was elevated 30-to 50-fold in plasma of perinatal mice, with higher levels after a vaginal than a C-section birth. We also found an acute decrease in plasma osmolality after a vaginal, but not C-section birth, suggesting that the difference in vasopressin release between birth modes is functionally meaningful. When vasopressin was administered centrally to newborns, we found an ~ 50% reduction in neuronal cell death in specific brain areas. Collectively, our results identify a conserved neuroendocrine response to birth that is sensitive to birth mode, and influences peripheral physiology and neurodevelopment.

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