Project description:Human brain structure and size requires regulated division of neural stem cells (NSCs). NSCs undergo precise divisions to self-renew and to produce intermediate neural progenitors (INPs) and neurons. The factors that regulate NSC divisions remain poorly understood, as do mechanistic explanations of how aberrant NSC division causes reduced brain size, as seen in microcephaly. Here we demonstrate that Magoh, a component of the core exon junction complex (EJC) that binds spliced RNA, controls cerebral cortical size by regulating NSC division. Magoh haploinsufficiency causes microcephaly due to INP depletion, neuronal apoptosis, and improper mitotic spindle orientation. Defective mitosis underlies these phenotypes as depletion of EJC components disrupts mitotic spindle integrity, chromosome number and genomic stability. We show that an essential function of Magoh is to regulate expression of the human microcephaly protein, LIS1, and that Lis1 addition rescues neurogenesis defects caused by Magoh knockdown, thus providing a genetic explanation for the microcephaly. This study uncovers new requirements for the EJC in brain development, NSC maintenance, mitosis and chromosome stability, thus implicating this complex in the pathogenesis of microcephaly. Mouse embryonic cortices were used for expression analysis 5 biological replicates each of control (C57BL/6) and Magoh mutant brains were analyzed
Project description:SILAC based protein correlation profiling using size exclusion of protein complexes derived from seven Mus musculus tissues (Heart, Brain, Liver, Lung, Kidney, Skeletal Muscle, Thymus)
Project description:Human brain structure and size requires regulated division of neural stem cells (NSCs). NSCs undergo precise divisions to self-renew and to produce intermediate neural progenitors (INPs) and neurons. The factors that regulate NSC divisions remain poorly understood, as do mechanistic explanations of how aberrant NSC division causes reduced brain size, as seen in microcephaly. Here we demonstrate that Magoh, a component of the core exon junction complex (EJC) that binds spliced RNA, controls cerebral cortical size by regulating NSC division. Magoh haploinsufficiency causes microcephaly due to INP depletion, neuronal apoptosis, and improper mitotic spindle orientation. Defective mitosis underlies these phenotypes as depletion of EJC components disrupts mitotic spindle integrity, chromosome number and genomic stability. We show that an essential function of Magoh is to regulate expression of the human microcephaly protein, LIS1, and that Lis1 addition rescues neurogenesis defects caused by Magoh knockdown, thus providing a genetic explanation for the microcephaly. This study uncovers new requirements for the EJC in brain development, NSC maintenance, mitosis and chromosome stability, thus implicating this complex in the pathogenesis of microcephaly. Mouse embryonic cortices were used for expression analysis
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.
Project description:Recombinant insect baculoviral vectors (BV) efficiently transduce several types of cells in the brain and can possibly be used for gene therapy for brain disorders. To verify the suitability of using these viral vectors to develop gene therapy strategies in the brain, and to evaluate our method of virus purification, we evaluated immune reactions upon acute administration of BV that were purified by ion-exchange membrane chromatography with high-speed centrifugation or high-speed centrifugation alone into the mouse brain using microarray global gene expression profiling.
Project description:PURPOSE: To provide a detailed gene expression profile of the normal postnatal mouse cornea. METHODS: Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was performed on postnatal day (PN)9 and adult mouse (6 week) total corneas. The expression of selected genes was analyzed by in situ hybridization. RESULTS: A total of 64,272 PN9 and 62,206 adult tags were sequenced. Mouse corneal transcriptomes are composed of at least 19,544 and 18,509 unique mRNAs, respectively. One third of the unique tags were expressed at both stages, whereas a third was identified exclusively in PN9 or adult corneas. Three hundred thirty-four PN9 and 339 adult tags were enriched more than fivefold over other published nonocular libraries. Abundant transcripts were associated with metabolic functions, redox activities, and barrier integrity. Three members of the Ly-6/uPAR family whose functions are unknown in the cornea constitute more than 1% of the total mRNA. Aquaporin 5, epithelial membrane protein and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) omega-1, and GST alpha-4 mRNAs were preferentially expressed in distinct corneal epithelial layers, providing new markers for stratification. More than 200 tags were differentially expressed, of which 25 mediate transcription. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to providing a detailed profile of expressed genes in the PN9 and mature mouse cornea, the present SAGE data demonstrate dynamic changes in gene expression after eye opening and provide new probes for exploring corneal epithelial cell stratification, development, and function and for exploring the intricate relationship between programmed and environmentally induced gene expression in the cornea. Keywords: other
Project description:SILAC based protein correlation profiling using size exclusion of protein complexes derived from Mus musculus tissues (Heart, Liver, Lung, Kidney, Skeletal Muscle, Thymus)