AAV-mediated CBLN1 replacement rescues hereditary ataxia caused by bi-allelic CBLN1 variants.

Abstract

Cbln1 is a secreted synaptic organizer required for parallel fiber-Purkinje cell (PF-PC) synapse integrity, climbing fiber (CF) refinement, and cerebellar motor learning but has not previously been implicated in human disease. We identified bi-allelic CBLN1 missense variants (A63P and Y112C) in two unrelated families with early-onset cerebellar ataxia accompanied by oculomotor abnormalities, cerebellar atrophy, and variable cognitive delay. In heterologous cells, both variants showed reduced steady-state protein abundance, impaired maturation through the early secretory pathway, and little or no detectable secretion, resulting in markedly reduced extracellular CBLN1 availability. Consistently, cerebellar granule cells expressing CBLN1-Y112C failed to induce excitatory synapses onto glutamate receptor δ2 (GluD2)-expressing cells in vitro. A knockin mouse harboring Y112C lacked synaptic Cbln1 and recapitulated key features of Cbln1 deficiency, including disrupted PF-PC synapse organization, persistent CF multi-innervation, impaired PF-PC transmission, and long-term depression, and deficits in motor coordination and oculomotor learning. Notably, systemic delivery of an astrocyte-targeted adeno-associated virus expressing wild-type CBLN1 in adult mutant mice restored synaptic CBLN1 localization, cerebellar synaptic function, plasticity, and behavior. These findings establish CBLN1 deficiency as a cause of hereditary ataxia and identify extracellular CBLN1 replacement as a therapeutic strategy for a reversible cerebellar synaptopathy.