Inferred by orthology to human genes with DO annotation (HGNC:2961)
Disease_relevance
In humans, mutations in the LIS1 gene (Platelet activating factor acetylhydrolase, isoform 1B, alpha subunit; PAFAH1B1) and the LIS1 pathway, are implicated in Lissencephaly, a developmental abnormality associated with a failure of neuronal migration in the cerebral cortex, leading to mental retardation and epilepsy; human NDE1 and NDEL1, are effectors of LIS1; the elegans genetic model for epileptic siezures consists of lis-1 mutants that are responsive to the common seizure inducer pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) and diplay a distinct convulsive phenotype; studies in the worm show that dhc-1/dynein heavy chain (orthologous to human DYNC1H1), is a LIS1 pathway component and worms depleted for LIS1 pathway components via RNA interference, NUD-1, NUD-2, DHC-1, CDK-5, and CDKA-1, also exhibited significant convulsions following PTZ treatment; further nud-1 (orthologous to human NUDC), nud-2/NDE1 and cdk-5 show significant enhancement in convulsions in a lis-1 heterozygous background when compared with the wild-type background; these animals are also less likely to recover when PTZ treatment is removed, when compared to wild-type; these studies show that while knocking down target genes (lis-1, cdk-5, and cdka-1 that function in neuronal migration), and their interacting proteins like nud-1, nud-2 and dhc-1, does not yield spontaneous convulsions in C. elegans, further alterations in the neural environment through the application of PTZ serve to pass a critical threshold within these animals.