Strain-specific differences in brain gene expression in a hydrocephalic mouse model with motile cilia dysfunction.

Congenital hydrocephalus results from cerebrospinal fluid accumulation in the ventricles of the brain and causes severe neurological damage, but the underlying causes are not well understood. It is associated with several syndromes, including primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), which is caused by dysfunction of motile cilia. We previously demonstrated that mouse models of PCD lacking ciliary proteins CFAP221, CFAP54 and SPEF2 all have hydrocephalus with a strain-dependent severity. While morphological defects are more severe on the C57BL/6J (B6) background than 129S6/SvEvTac (129), cerebrospinal fluid flow is perturbed on both backgrounds, suggesting that abnormal cilia-driven flow is not the only factor underlying the hydrocephalus phenotype. Here, we performed a microarray analysis on brains from wild type and nm1054 mice lacking CFAP221 on the B6 and 129 backgrounds. Expression differences were observed for a number of genes that cluster into distinct groups based on expression pattern and biological function, many of them implicated in cellular and biochemical processes essential for proper brain development. These include genes known to be functionally relevant to congenital hydrocephalus, as well as formation and function of both motile and sensory cilia. Identification of these genes provides important clues to mechanisms underlying congenital hydrocephalus severity.

CFAP54 is required for proper ciliary motility and assembly of the central pair apparatus in mice.

Motile cilia and flagella play critical roles in fluid clearance and cell motility, and dysfunction commonly results in the pediatric syndrome primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). CFAP221, also known as PCDP1, is required for ciliary and flagellar function in mice and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, where it localizes to the C1d projection of the central microtubule apparatus and functions in a complex that regulates flagellar motility in a calcium-dependent manner. We demonstrate that the genes encoding the mouse homologues of the other C. reinhardtii C1d complex members are primarily expressed in motile ciliated tissues, suggesting a conserved function in mammalian motile cilia. The requirement for one of these C1d complex members, CFAP54, was identified in a mouse line with a gene-trapped allele. Homozygous mice have PCD characterized by hydrocephalus, male infertility, and mucus accumulation. The infertility results from defects in spermatogenesis. Motile cilia have a structural defect in the C1d projection, indicating that the C1d assembly mechanism requires CFAP54. This structural defect results in decreased ciliary beat frequency and perturbed cilia-driven flow. This study identifies a critical role for CFAP54 in proper assembly and function of mammalian cilia and flagella and establishes the gene-trapped allele as a new model of PCD.

Treatment of the Ppt1(-/-) mouse model of infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis with the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist memantine.

The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses, a family of neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorders, represent the most common cause of pediatric-onset neurodegeneration. The infantile form has a devastatingly early onset and one of the fastest-progressing disease courses. Despite decades of research, the molecular mechanisms driving neuronal loss in infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis remain unknown. We have previously shown that N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamate receptors in the Ppt1(-/-) mouse model of this disease exhibit a hyperfunctional phenotype and postulate that aberrant glutamatergic activity may contribute to neural pathology in both the mouse model and human patients. To test this hypothesis, we treated Ppt1(-/-) mice with the NMDA receptor antagonist memantine and assessed their response to the drug using an accelerating rotarod. At 20 mg/kg, memantine treatment induced a delayed but notable improvement in Ppt1(-/-) mice. Much remains to be assessed before moving to patient trials, but these results suggest memantine has potential as a treatment.

Altered glutamate receptor function in the cerebellum of the Ppt1-/- mouse, a murine model of infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.

The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs) are a family of devastating pediatric neurodegenerative disorders and currently represent the most common form of pediatric-onset neurodegeneration. Infantile NCL (INCL), the most aggressive of these disorders, is caused by mutations in the CLN1 gene that encodes the enzyme palmitoyl protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1). Previous studies have suggested that glutamatergic neurotransmission may be disrupted in INCL, so the present study investigates glutamate receptor function in the Ppt1(-/-) mouse model of INCL by comparing the sensitivity of cultured wild-type (WT) and Ppt1(-/-) cerebellar granule cells to glutamate receptor-mediated toxicity. Ppt1(-/-) neurons were significantly less sensitive to AMPA receptor-mediated toxicity but markedly more vulnerable to NMDA receptor-mediated cell death. Because glutamate receptor function is regulated primarily by the surface expression level of the receptor, the surface level of AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits in the cerebella of WT and Ppt1(-/-) mice was also examined. Western blotting of surface cross-linked cerebellar samples showed a significantly lower surface level of the GluR4 AMPA receptor subunit in Ppt1(-/-) mice, providing a plausible explanation for the decreased vulnerability of Ppt1(-/-) cerebellar neurons to AMPA receptor-mediated cell death. The surface expression of the NR1, NR2A, and NR2B NMDA receptor subunits was similar in the cerebella of WT and Ppt1(-/-) mice, indicating that there is another mechanism behind the increased sensitivity of Ppt1(-/-) cerebellar granule cells to NMDA toxicity. Our results indicate an AMPA receptor hypofunction and NMDA receptor hyperfunction phenotype in Ppt1(-/-) neurons and provide new therapeutic targets for INCL.

Altered sensitivity of cerebellar granule cells to glutamate receptor overactivation in the Cln3(Δex7/8)-knock-in mouse model of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.

The juvenile onset form of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (JNCL) is a recessively inherited lysosomal storage disorder characterized by progressive neurodegeneration. JNCL results from mutations in the CLN3 gene that encodes a lysosomal membrane protein with unknown function. Utilizing a Cln3-knock-out mouse model of JNCL that was created on the 129S6/SvEv genetic background, we have previously demonstrated that CLN3-deficient cerebellar granule cells (CGCs) have a selectively increased sensitivity to AMPA-type glutamate receptor-mediated toxicity. Our recent findings that CGCs from 129S6/SvEv and C57BL/6J wild type (WT) mice have significant differences in glutamate receptor expression and in excitotoxic vulnerability indicated that the genetic background possibly have a strong influence on how glutamate receptor function is dysregulated in CLN3-deficient neurons. Indeed, here we show that in the Cln3(Δex7/8)-knock-in mouse model, that is on the C57BL/6J genetic background, mimics the most frequent mutation observed in JNCL patients and considered a null mutant, the sensitivity of CGCs to both AMPA- and NMDA-type glutamate receptor overactivations is altered. Cultured wild type and Cln3(Δex7/8) CGCs were equally sensitive to AMPA toxicity after 2 or 3 weeks in vitro, whereas the subunit-selective AMPA receptor agonist, CPW-399, induced significantly more cell death in mature, 3-week-old Cln3(Δex7/8) cultures. NMDA receptor-mediated toxicity changed during in vitro development: Cln3(Δex7/8) CGCs were less sensitive to high concentration of NMDA after 2 weeks in culture but became more vulnerable than their WT counterparts after 3 weeks in vitro. Abnormally altered glutamate receptor function in the cerebellum may result in motor deficits, and we confirmed that 7-week-old Cln3(Δex7/8) mice, similarly to Cln3-knock-out mice, have a motor coordination deficit as measured by an accelerating rotarod. Our results demonstrate altered glutamate receptor function in Cln3(Δex7/8) neurons and suggest that both AMPA and NMDA receptors are potential therapeutic targets in JNCL.

Altered sensitivity to excitotoxic cell death and glutamate receptor expression between two commonly studied mouse strains.

Alterations in glutamatergic synapse function have been implicated in the pathogenesis of many different neurological disorders, including ischemia, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Huntington's disease. While studying glutamate receptor function in juvenile Batten disease on the C57BL/6J and 129S6/S(v)E(v) mouse backgrounds, we noticed differences unlikely to be due to mutation difference alone. We report here that primary cerebellar granule cell cultures from C57BL/6J mice are more sensitive to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-mediated cell death. Moreover, sensitivity to AMPA-mediated excitotoxicity is more variable and is dependent on the treatment conditions and age of the cultures. Glutamate receptor surface expression levels examined in vitro by in situ ELISA and in vivo by Western blot in surface cross-linked cerebellar samples indicated that these differences in sensitivity likely are due to strain-dependent differences in cell surface receptor expression levels. We propose that differences in glutamate receptor expression and in excitotoxic vulnerability should be taken into consideration in the context of characterizing disease models on the C57BL/6J and 129S6/S(v)E(v) mouse backgrounds.