Neurofibromin deficiency in mice causes exencephaly and is a modifier for Splotch neural tube defects.

Neural tube defects are common and serious human congenital anomalies. These malformations have a multifactorial etiology and can be reproduced in mouse models by mutations of numerous individual genes and by perturbation of multiple environmental factors. The identification of specific genetic interactions affecting neural tube closure will facilitate our understanding of molecular pathways regulating normal neural development and will enhance our ability to predict and modify the incidence of spina bifida and other neural tube defects. Here, we report a genetic interaction between Nf1, encoding the intracellular signal transduction protein neurofibromin, and Pax3, a transcription factor gene mutated in the Splotch mouse. Both Pax3 and Nf1 are important for the development of neural crest-derived structures and the central nervous system. Splotch is an established model of folate-sensitive neural tube defects, and homozygous mutant embryos develop spina bifida and sometimes exencephaly. Neural development is grossly normal in heterozygotes and neural tube defects are not seen. In contrast, we found a low incidence of neural tube defects in heterozygous Splotch mice that also harbored a mutation in one Nf1 allele. All compound homozygotes had severe neural tube defects and died earlier in embryogenesis than either Nf1(-/-) or Sp(-/-) embryos. We also report occasional exencephaly in Nf1(-/-) mice and identify more subtle CNS abnormalities in normal-appearing Nf1(-/-) embryos. Though other genetic loci and environmental factors affect the incidence of neural tube defects in Splotch mice, these results establish Nf1 as the first known gene to act as a modifier of neural tube defects in Splotch.

Human 12(R)-lipoxygenase and the mouse ortholog. Molecular cloning, expression, and gene chromosomal assignment.

Expressed sequence tag information was used to clone the full-length sequence for a new human lipoxygenase from the B cell line CCL-156. A related mouse sequence with 83% nucleotide identity to the human sequence was also cloned. The human lipoxygenase, when expressed via the baculovirus/insect cell system produced an approximately 80-kDa protein capable of metabolizing arachidonic acid to a product identified as 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid by mass spectrometry. Using chiral phase-high performance liquid chromatography, the product was identified as >98% 12(R)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid as opposed to the S-stereoisomer formed by all other known mammalian lipoxygenases. The single copy human 12(R)-lipoxygenase gene was localized to the chromosome 17p13 region, the locus where most other lipoxygenase genes are known to reside. By reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, but not by Northern blot, analysis the 12(R)-lipoxygenase mRNA was detected in B cells and adult skin. However, the related mouse lipoxygenase mRNA was highly expressed in epidermis of newborn mice and to a lesser extent in adult brain cortex. By in situ hybridization the mouse lipoxygenase gene was demonstrated to be temporally and spatially regulated during embryogenesis. Expression was induced at embryonic day 15.5 in epidermis, nasal epithelium, and surface of the tongue. These results broaden the mammalian lipoxygenase family to include a 12(R)-lipoxygenase whose biological function remains to be determined.

Neurofibromin modulation of ras activity is required for normal endocardial-mesenchymal transformation in the developing heart.

Endocardial cushions are the precursors of the cardiac valves and form by a process of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation. Secreted growth factors from myocardium induce endocardial cells to transform into mesenchyme and invade the overlying extracellular matrix. Here, we show that the product of the Nf1 neurofibromatosis gene is required to regulate this event. In the absence of neurofibromin, mouse embryo hearts develop overabundant endocardial cushions due to hyperproliferation and lack of normal apoptosis. Neurofibromin deficiency in explant cultures is reproduced by activation of ras signaling pathways, and the Nf1(-/-) mutant phenotype is prevented by inhibiting ras in vitro. These results indicate that neurofibromin normally acts to modulate epithelial-mesenchymal transformation and proliferation in the developing heart by down regulating ras activity.

The catalytic properties of murine carbonic anhydrase VII.

Carbonic anhydrase VII (CA VII) appears to be the most highly conserved of the active mammalian carbonic anhydrases. We have characterized the catalytic activity and inhibition properties of a recombinant murine CA VII. CA VII has steady-state constants similar to two of the most active isozymes of carbonic anhydrase, CA II and IV; also, it is very strongly inhibited by the sulfonamides ethoxzolamide and acetazolamide, yielding the lowest Ki values measured by the exchange of 18O between CO2 and water for any of the mammalian isozymes of carbonic anhydrase. The catalytic measurements of the hydration of CO2 and the dehydration of HCO3- were made by stopped-flow spectrophotometry and the exchange of 18O using mass spectrometry. Unlike the other isozymes of this class of CA, for which Kcat/K(m) is described by the single ionization of zinc-bound water, CA VII exhibits a pH profile for Kcat/K(m) for CO2 hydration described by two ionizations at pKa 6.2 and 7.5, with a maximum approaching 8 x 10(7) M-1 s-1. The pH dependence of kcat/K(m) for the hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl acetate could also be described by these two ionizations, yielding a maximum of 71 M-1 s-1 at pH > 9. Using a novel method that compares rates of 18O exchange and dehydration of HCO3-, we assigned values for the apparent pKa at 6.2 to the zinc-bound water and the pKa of 7.5 to His 64. The magnitude of Kcat, its pH profile, 18O-exchange data for both wild-type and a H64A mutant, and inhibition by CuSO4 and acrolein suggest that the histidine at position 64 is functioning as a proton-transfer group and is responsible for one of the observed ionizations. A truncation mutant of CA VII, in which 23 residues from the amino-terminal end were deleted, has its rate constant for intramolecular proton transfer decreased by an order of magnitude with no change in Kcat/K(m). This suggests a role for the amino-terminal end in enhancing proton transfer in catalysis by carbonic anhydrase.

Differential expression of the carbonic anhydrase genes for CA VII (Car7) and CA-RP VIII (Car8) in mouse brain.

The spatial expression patterns of the two alpha-carbonic anhydrase genes, CA VII and CA-RP VIII (called Car7 and Car8 in the mouse) were examined in the mouse brain by in situ hybridization. These two genes are the most highly conserved evolutionarily among the mammalian alpha-CAs. Both genes showed a similarly wide expression pattern in the brain. In the cerebrum, mRNA expression was detected in the pia, choroid plexus, and neurons of the cortical layer, thalamus, and medial habenulae. A high level of expression appeared in the pyramidal and granular cells of the hippocampus. In the cerebellum, both Car7 and Car8 were transcribed to different degrees in the Purkinje cells, and a lower expression level occurred in the molecular and granular cell layers. Transcription signals for both genes were excluded from the white matter regions.

Expression of the acatalytic carbonic anhydrase VIII gene, Car8, during mouse embryonic development.

The carbonic anhydrase (CA)-like protein, CA VIII, lacks the typical carbon dioxide hydrase activity of the CA isozymes. However, the high degree of amino acid sequence similarity between the products of the mouse and the human CA VIII genes suggests an important biological function. We have attempted to investigate the function of this gene in mammalian development by conducting an in situ hybridization study on sagittal sections of mouse embryos at gestation days of 9.5-16.5 using a 35S-labelled riboprobe. Results indicate that this gene (called Car8 in mice) is expressed as early as day 9.5 in a variety of organs including liver, branchial arches, neuroepithelium and developing myocardium. Between days 10.5 and 12.5, it showed a widespread distribution of mRNA expression that became more restricted as development progressed. The level of expression of Car8 mRNA was relatively high in the brain, liver, lung, heart, gut, thymus and epithelium covering the head and the oronasal cavity.

Expression of mouse carbonic anhydrase VII in E. coli and demonstration of its CO2 hydrase activity.

The alpha-carbonic anhydrase (alpha-CA) gene family in mammals encodes 10 CA or CA-like proteins (CA I-CA X). Although the gene for human CA VII has been cloned and characterized, the corresponding protein has not previously been purified, and hence, the CO2 hydrase activity of its product has not as yet been demonstrated. In this study, we have cloned the mouse CA VII cDNA in an E. coli, glutathione-S-transferase (GST) expression vector. The CO2 hydrase activity of the expressed protein is about 4% that of the high-activity CAII isozyme, demonstrating that this evolutionarily highly conserved protein is a catalytically active member of this CA gene family.