Insights into the organization of dorsal spinal cord pathways from an evolutionarily conserved raldh2 intronic enhancer.

Comparative studies of the tetrapod raldh2 (aldh1a2) gene, which encodes a retinoic acid (RA) synthesis enzyme, have led to the identification of a dorsal spinal cord enhancer. Enhancer activity is directed dorsally to the roof plate and dorsal-most (dI1) interneurons through predicted Tcf- and Cdx-homeodomain binding sites and is repressed ventrally via predicted Tgif homeobox and ventral Lim-homeodomain binding sites. Raldh2 and Math1/Cath1 expression in mouse and chicken highlights a novel, transient, endogenous Raldh2 expression domain in dI1 interneurons, which give rise to ascending circuits and intraspinal commissural interneurons, suggesting roles for RA in the ontogeny of spinocerebellar and intraspinal proprioceptive circuits. Consistent with expression of raldh2 in the dorsal interneurons of tetrapods, we also found that raldh2 is expressed in dorsal interneurons throughout the agnathan spinal cord, suggesting ancestral roles for RA signaling in the ontogenesis of intraspinal proprioception.

Overexpression of mIGF-1 in keratinocytes improves wound healing and accelerates hair follicle formation and cycling in mice.

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is an important regulator of growth, survival, and differentiation in many tissues. It is produced in several isoforms that differ in their N-terminal signal peptide and C-terminal extension peptide. The locally acting isoform of IGF-1 (mIGF-1) was previously shown to enhance the regeneration of both muscle and heart. In this study, we tested the therapeutic potential of mIGF-1 in the skin by generating a transgenic mouse model in which mIGF-1 expression is driven by the keratin 14 promoter. IGF-1 levels were unchanged in the sera of hemizygous K14/mIGF-1 transgenic animals whose growth was unaffected. A skin analysis of young animals revealed normal architecture and thickness as well as proper expression of differentiation and proliferation markers. No malignant tumors were formed. Normal homeostasis of the putative stem cell compartment was also maintained. Healing of full-thickness excisional wounds was accelerated because of increased proliferation and migration of keratinocytes, whereas inflammation, granulation tissue formation, and scarring were not obviously affected. In addition, mIGF-1 promoted late hair follicle morphogenesis and cycling. To our knowledge, this is the first work to characterize the simultaneous, stimulatory effect of IGF-1 delivery to keratinocytes on two types of regeneration processes within a single mouse model. Our analysis supports the use of mIGF-1 for skin and hair regeneration and describes a potential cell type-restricted action.

Enhancing repair of the mammalian heart.

The injured mammalian heart is particularly susceptible to tissue deterioration, scarring, and loss of contractile function in response to trauma or sustained disease. We tested the ability of a locally acting insulin-like growth factor-1 isoform (mIGF-1) to recover heart functionality, expressing the transgene in the mouse myocardium to exclude endocrine effects on other tissues. supplemental mIGF-1 expression did not perturb normal cardiac growth and physiology. Restoration of cardiac function in post-infarct mIGF-1 transgenic mice was facilitated by modulation of the inflammatory response and increased antiapoptotic signaling. mIGF-1 ventricular tissue exhibited increased proliferative activity several weeks after injury. The canonical signaling pathway involving Akt, mTOR, and p70S6 kinase was not induced in mIGF-1 hearts, which instead activated alternate PDK1 and SGK1 signaling intermediates. The robust response achieved with the mIGF-1 isoform provides a mechanistic basis for clinically feasible therapeutic strategies for improving the outcome of heart disease.

Analysis of CRE-mediated recombination driven by myosin light chain 1/3 regulatory elements in embryonic and adult skeletal muscle: a tool to study fiber specification.

An increasing number of genes have been implicated in skeletal muscle fiber diversity. To study the contribution of diverse genetic elements to the regulation of fiber-type composition, we generated a transgenic mouse in which CRE recombinase expression is driven by muscle-specific regulatory sequences of the myosin light chain 1/3 locus (MLC). Using ROSA26 conditional reporter mice, we detected expression of the MLC-Cre transgene starting from embryonic day 12.5 (E12.5). By E15, recombination was detected in all muscle-derived structures. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed CRE activity was restricted to fast-twitch (type II) and excluded from slow-twitch (type I) fibers of skeletal muscle. The MLC-Cre transgenic mouse can be used in conjunction with conditional alleles to study both developmental patterning and maintenance of fast fiber-type phenotypes.

Proximal tubule overexpression of a locally acting IGF isoform, Igf-1Ea, increases inflammation after ischemic injury.

OBJECTIVE: IGF-1 is an important regulator of postnatal growth in mammals. In mice, a non-circulating, locally acting isoform of IGF-1, IGF-1Ea, has been documented as a central regulator of muscle regeneration and has been shown to improve repair in the heart and skin. In this study, we examine whether local production of IGF1-Ea protein improves tubular repair after renal ischemia reperfusion injury. DESIGN: Transgenic mice in which the proximal-tubule specific promoter Sglt2 was driving the expression of an Igf-1Ea transgene. These animals were treated with an ischemic-reperfusion injury and the response at 24h and 5days compared with wildtype littermates. RESULTS: Transgenic mice demonstrated rapid and enhanced renal injury in comparison to wild type mice. Five days after injury the wild type and low expressing Igf-1Ea transgenic mice showed significant tubular recovery, while high expressing Igf-1Ea transgenic mice displayed significant tubular damage. This marked injury was accompanied by a two-fold increase in the number of F4/80 positive macrophages and a three-fold increase in the number of Gr1-positive neutrophils in the kidney. At the molecular level, Igf-1Ea expression resulted in significant up-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and Ccl2. Expression of Nfatc1 was also delayed, suggesting reduced tubular proliferation after kidney injury. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that, unlike the muscle, heart and skin, elevated levels of IGF-1Ea in the proximal tubules exacerbates ischemia reperfusion injury resulting in increased recruitment of macrophages and neutrophils and delays repair in a renal setting.

An abundant tissue macrophage population in the adult murine heart with a distinct alternatively-activated macrophage profile.

Cardiac tissue macrophages (cTMs) are a previously uncharacterised cell type that we have identified and characterise here as an abundant GFP(+) population within the adult Cx(3)cr1(GFP/+) knock-in mouse heart. They comprise the predominant myeloid cell population in the myocardium, and are found throughout myocardial interstitial spaces interacting directly with capillary endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes. Flow cytometry-based immunophenotyping shows that cTMs exhibit canonical macrophage markers. Gene expression analysis shows that cTMs (CD45(+)CD11b(+)GFP(+)) are distinct from mononuclear CD45(+)CD11b(+)GFP(+) cells sorted from the spleen and brain of adult Cx(3)cr1(GFP/+) mice. Gene expression profiling reveals that cTMs closely resemble alternatively-activated anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages, expressing a number of M2 markers, including Mrc1, CD163, and Lyve-1. While cTMs perform normal tissue macrophage homeostatic functions, they also exhibit a distinct phenotype, involving secretion of salutary factors (including IGF-1) and immune modulation. In summary, the characterisation of cTMs at the cellular and molecular level defines a potentially important role for these cells in cardiac homeostasis.

Multiple congenital malformations of Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome are recapitulated in Fgfrl1 null mice.

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is caused by deletions in the short arm of chromosome 4 (4p) and occurs in about one per 20,000 births. Patients with WHS display a set of highly variable characteristics including craniofacial dysgenesis, mental retardation, speech problems, congenital heart defects, short stature and a variety of skeletal anomalies. Analysis of patients with 4p deletions has identified two WHS critical regions (WHSCRs); however, deletions targeting mouse WHSCRs do not recapitulate the classical WHS defects, and the genes contributing to WHS have not been conclusively established. Recently, the human FGFRL1 gene, encoding a putative fibroblast growth factor (FGF) decoy receptor, has been implicated in the craniofacial phenotype of a WHS patient. Here, we report that targeted deletion of the mouse Fgfrl1 gene recapitulates a broad array of WHS phenotypes, including abnormal craniofacial development, axial and appendicular skeletal anomalies, and congenital heart defects. Fgfrl1 null mutants also display a transient foetal anaemia and a fully penetrant diaphragm defect, causing prenatal and perinatal lethality. Together, these data support a wider role for Fgfrl1 in development, implicate FGFRL1 insufficiency in WHS, and provide a novel animal model to dissect the complex aetiology of this human disease.

Targeted deletion of the MLC1f/3f downstream enhancer results in precocious MLC expression and mesoderm ablation.

The expression of skeletal muscle contractile proteins is tightly regulated during embryonic development. In the mouse, the myosin light chain (MLC) 1f/3f gene locus is not activated until E9.5, exclusively in skeletal muscle precursor cells. A potent enhancer downstream of the MLC1f/3f locus confers correct temporal and spatial activation of linked reporter gene in transgenic mouse embryos. To examine roles of the MLC downstream enhancer (MLCE) in its native context of the MLC1f/3f gene locus, we eliminated a 1.5-kb DNA segment containing the enhancer from the mouse genome by targeted deletion, leaving no exogenous sequences at the deletion site. Mouse embryos homozygous for the MLCE deletion were smaller and developmentally delayed, formed no mesoderm by E7.5, and were resorbed almost completely at E8.5. In situ hybridization and RT-PCR analyses of affected mutant embryos at E7.5 revealed ectopic MLC transcripts, whose products would be predicted to interfere with a variety of nonmuscle cell functions determining differentiation of mesoderm. These results suggest that the MLC downstream enhancer and its flanking sequences include negative regulatory elements which block precocious activation of MLC expression in mesodermal precursors during a critical window of development, as well as positive elements which subsequently permit tissue-restricted MLC transcription in differentiating skeletal muscles.