Deletion of the KH1 Domain of Fmr1 Leads to Transcriptional Alterations and Attentional Deficits in Rats.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the FMR1 gene. It is a leading monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorder and inherited intellectual disability and is often comorbid with attention deficits. Most FXS cases are due to an expansion of CGG repeats leading to suppressed expression of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), an RNA-binding protein involved in mRNA metabolism. We found that the previously published Fmr1 knockout rat model of FXS expresses an Fmr1 transcript with an in-frame deletion of exon 8, which encodes for the K-homology (KH) RNA-binding domain, KH1. Notably, 3 pathogenic missense mutations associated with FXS lie in the KH domains. We observed that the deletion of exon 8 in rats leads to attention deficits and to alterations in transcriptional profiles within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which map to 2 weighted gene coexpression network modules. These modules are conserved in human frontal cortex and enriched for known FMRP targets. Hub genes in these modules represent potential therapeutic targets for FXS. Taken together, these findings indicate that attentional testing might be a reliable cross-species tool for investigating FXS and identify dysregulated conserved gene networks in a relevant brain region.

The Transcriptional Activator Krüppel-like Factor-6 Is Required for CNS Myelination.

Growth factors of the gp130 family promote oligodendrocyte differentiation, and viability, and myelination, but their mechanisms of action are incompletely understood. Here, we show that these effects are coordinated, in part, by the transcriptional activator Krüppel-like factor-6 (Klf6). Klf6 is rapidly induced in oligodendrocyte progenitors (OLP) by gp130 factors, and promotes differentiation. Conversely, in mice with lineage-selective Klf6 inactivation, OLP undergo maturation arrest followed by apoptosis, and CNS myelination fails. Overlapping transcriptional and chromatin occupancy analyses place Klf6 at the nexus of a novel gp130-Klf-importin axis, which promotes differentiation and viability in part via control of nuclear trafficking. Klf6 acts as a gp130-sensitive transactivator of the nuclear import factor importin-α5 (Impα5), and interfering with this mechanism interrupts step-wise differentiation. Underscoring the significance of this axis in vivo, mice with conditional inactivation of gp130 signaling display defective Klf6 and Impα5 expression, OLP maturation arrest and apoptosis, and failure of CNS myelination.