Mutation of the diamond-blackfan anemia gene Rps7 in mouse results in morphological and neuroanatomical phenotypes.

The ribosome is an evolutionarily conserved organelle essential for cellular function. Ribosome construction requires assembly of approximately 80 different ribosomal proteins (RPs) and four different species of rRNA. As RPs co-assemble into one multi-subunit complex, mutation of the genes that encode RPs might be expected to give rise to phenocopies, in which the same phenotype is associated with loss-of-function of each individual gene. However, a more complex picture is emerging in which, in addition to a group of shared phenotypes, diverse RP gene-specific phenotypes are observed. Here we report the first two mouse mutations (Rps7(Mtu) and Rps7(Zma)) of ribosomal protein S7 (Rps7), a gene that has been implicated in Diamond-Blackfan anemia. Rps7 disruption results in decreased body size, abnormal skeletal morphology, mid-ventral white spotting, and eye malformations. These phenotypes are reported in other murine RP mutants and, as demonstrated for some other RP mutations, are ameliorated by Trp53 deficiency. Interestingly, Rps7 mutants have additional overt malformations of the developing central nervous system and deficits in working memory, phenotypes that are not reported in murine or human RP gene mutants. Conversely, Rps7 mouse mutants show no anemia or hyperpigmentation, phenotypes associated with mutation of human RPS7 and other murine RPs, respectively. We provide two novel RP mouse models and expand the repertoire of potential phenotypes that should be examined in RP mutants to further explore the concept of RP gene-specific phenotypes.

Magnetic resonance imaging and histological studies of corpus callosal and hippocampal abnormalities linked to doublecortin deficiency.

Mutated doublecortin (DCX) gives rise to severe abnormalities in human cortical development. Adult Dcx knockout mice show no major neocortical defects but do have a disorganized hippocampus. We report here the developmental basis of these hippocampal abnormalities. A heterotopic band of neurons was identified starting at E17.5 in the CA3 region and progressing throughout the CA1 region by E18.5. At neonatal stages, the CA1 heterotopic band was reduced, but the CA3 band remained unchanged, continuing into adulthood. Thus, in mouse, migration of CA3 neurons is arrested during development, whereas CA1 cell migration is retarded. On the Sv129Pas background, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) also suggested abnormal dorsal hippocampal morphology, displaced laterally and sometimes rostrally and associated with medial brain structure abnormalities. MRI and cryosectioning showed agenesis of the corpus callosum in Dcx knockout mice on this background and an intermediate, partial agenesis in heterozygote mice. Wild-type littermates showed no callosal abnormalities. Hippocampal and corpus callosal abnormalities were also characterized in DCX-mutated human patients. Severe hippocampal hypoplasia was identified along with variable corpus callosal defects ranging from total agenesis to an abnormally thick or thin callosum. Our data in the mouse, identifying roles for Dcx in hippocampal and corpus callosal development, might suggest intrinsic roles for human DCX in the development of these structures.

Mutations in the beta-tubulin gene TUBB2B result in asymmetrical polymicrogyria.

Polymicrogyria is a relatively common but poorly understood defect of cortical development characterized by numerous small gyri and a thick disorganized cortical plate lacking normal lamination. Here we report de novo mutations in a beta-tubulin gene, TUBB2B, in four individuals and a 27-gestational-week fetus with bilateral asymmetrical polymicrogyria. Neuropathological examination of the fetus revealed an absence of cortical lamination associated with the presence of ectopic neuronal cells in the white matter and in the leptomeningeal spaces due to breaches in the pial basement membrane. In utero RNAi-based inactivation demonstrates that TUBB2B is required for neuronal migration. We also show that two disease-associated mutations lead to impaired formation of tubulin heterodimers. These observations, together with previous data, show that disruption of microtubule-based processes underlies a large spectrum of neuronal migration disorders that includes not only lissencephaly and pachygyria, but also polymicrogyria malformations.

Epilepsy in Dcx knockout mice associated with discrete lamination defects and enhanced excitability in the hippocampus.

Patients with Doublecortin (DCX) mutations have severe cortical malformations associated with mental retardation and epilepsy. Dcx knockout (KO) mice show no major isocortical abnormalities, but have discrete hippocampal defects. We questioned the functional consequences of these defects and report here that Dcx KO mice are hyperactive and exhibit spontaneous convulsive seizures. Changes in neuropeptide Y and calbindin expression, consistent with seizure occurrence, were detected in a large proportion of KO animals, and convulsants, including kainate and pentylenetetrazole, also induced seizures more readily in KO mice. We show that the dysplastic CA3 region in KO hippocampal slices generates sharp wave-like activities and possesses a lower threshold for epileptiform events. Video-EEG monitoring also demonstrated that spontaneous seizures were initiated in the hippocampus. Similarly, seizures in human patients mutated for DCX can show a primary involvement of the temporal lobe. In conclusion, seizures in Dcx KO mice are likely to be due to abnormal synaptic transmission involving heterotopic cells in the hippocampus and these mice may therefore provide a useful model to further study how lamination defects underlie the genesis of epileptiform activities.

Novel target sequences for Pax-6 in the brain-specific activating regions of the rat aldolase C gene.

Upstream activating sequences of the rat aldolase C gene are shown here to confer brain-specific expression in transgenic mice. In addition to binding sites described previously for the brain-expressed POU proteins Brn-1 and Brn-2 (Skala, H., Porteu, A., Thomas, M., Szajnert, M. F., Okazawa, H., Kahn, A., and Phan-Dinh-Tuy, F. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 31806-31814), we have identified two novel DNA elements critical for an interaction with a brain-specific, high affinity DNA-binding protein. Characterization of this binding protein showed it to be sensitive to thiol oxidation and stable to heat at 100 degrees C. This protein was purified on the basis of its thermostability and its selective adsorption to streptavidin magnetic particles via a biotinylated multimer of its target DNA binding site. Liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry analysis, binding competition with consensus oligonucleotides, and antibody supershift assays led to its identification as the homeodomain paired protein Pax-6. This result suggests that the brain-specific aldolase C gene could constitute a new target for the transcription factor Pax-6, which is implicated increasingly in neurogenesis.