Project description:We sequenced mRNA from E18.5 mouse cortex (3 wild-type vs 3 Nova2-/- and 3 wild-type vs 3 Nova1-/-) and from E18.5 mouse mid- and hind-brain (3 wild-type vs 3 Nova1-/-) to compare gene expression level and alternative splicing events between wild-type and Nova mutant mice.
Project description:To assess the requirement of Nova2 for alternative processing of RNA in the developping brain. Neuronal migration leads to a highly organized laminar structure in the mammalian brain and its mis-regulation causes lissencephaly, behavioral and cognitive defects. Reelin signaling, mediated in part by a key adaptor, disabled-1 (Dab1), plays a critical but incompletely understood role in this process. We found that the neuron-specific RNA binding protein Nova2 regulates neuronal migration in late-generated cortical and Purkinje neurons. An unbiased HITS-CLIP and exon junction array search for Nova-dependent RNAs at E14.5 focused on components of the reelin pathway revealed only one candidate—an alternatively spliced isoform of Dab1 (Dab1.7bc). In utero electroporation demonstrated that Dab1.7bc was sufficient to induce neuronal migration defects in wild-type mice and exacerbate defects when Dab1 levels were reduced, while Dab1 overexpression mitigates defects in Nova2-null mice. Thus Nova2 regulates an RNA switch controlling the ability of Dab1 to mediate neuronal responsiveness to reelin signaling and neuronal migration, suggesting new links between splicing regulation, brain disease and development. Keywords: Comparative analysis RNA from the cortex of 3 wild type and 3 Nova2 KO E14.5 cortex. One array per biological replicate.