Syndrome-linked CK 2 α mutations have reduced kinase activity

The Okur-Chung Neurodevelopmental Syndrome, or OCNDS, is a newly discovered rare neurodevelopmental disorder. It is characterized by developmental delay, intellectual disability, behavioral problems (hyperactivity, repetitive movements and social interaction deficits), hypotonia, epilepsy and language/verbalization deficits. OCNDS is linked to de novo variants in CSNK2A1, that lead to missense or deletion/truncating mutations in the encoded protein, the protein kinase CK2α. Eighteen different missense CK2α mutants have been identified to date, however no biochemical or cell biological studies have yet been performed to clarify the functional impact of such mutations. Here, we show that 15 different missense CK2α mutations lead to varying degrees of loss of kinase activity as recombinant purified proteins and when mutants are ectopically expressed in mammalian cells. We further detect changes in the phosphoproteome of three patient derived fibroblast lines and show that the subcellular localization of CK2α is altered for some of the OCNDS-linked mutants and in patient derived fibroblasts. Our data argue that reduced kinase activity and abnormal localization of CK2α may underlie the OCNDS phenotype.