A Mouse Translocation Associated with Caspr5-2 Disruption and Perinatal Lethality
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Mamm Genome (2008) 19:675–686 DOI 10.1007/s00335-008-9148-3 A mouse translocation associated with Caspr5-2 disruption and perinatal lethality Dieter Weichenhan Æ Walther Traut Æ Christina Go¨ngrich Æ Heinz Himmelbauer Æ Lu¨der Busch Æ Hannah Monyer Æ Heinz Winking Received: 19 February 2008 / Accepted: 26 September 2008 / Published online: 24 October 2008 Ó The Author(s) 2008. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract We have previously described the paralogous wild-type fetuses maximum expression was found, no mouse genes Caspr5-1, -2, and -3 of the neurexin gene malformation that might have caused death could be family. Here we present the cytogenetic and molecular detected in fetal homozygous carriers of the translocation. mapping of a null mutation of Caspr5-2 which was caused We, therefore, suspect that Caspr5-2 disruption leads to by reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 1 and 8 dysfunction at the cellular level rather than at the level of with breakpoints at bands 1E2.1 and 8B2.1, respectively. organ development. The translocation disrupts Caspr5-2 between exons 1 and 2 and causes stillbirth or early postnatal lethality of homo- zygous carriers. Because no other candidate genes were found, the disruption of Caspr5-2 is most likely the cause Introduction of lethality. Only rarely do homozygotes survive the crit- ical stage, reach fertility, and are then apparently normal. Caspr proteins constitute a family of multidomain trans- They may be rescued by one of the two other Caspr5 membrane proteins implicated in cell recognition and cell paralogs. Caspr5-2 is expressed in spinal cord and brain adhesion (Poliak and Peles 2003). They are predominantly tissues. Despite giving special attention to regions where in expressed in the nervous system (Peles et al. 1997; Poliak et al. 1999; Spiegel et al. 2002; Traut et al. 2006). Proteins Caspr1 (contactin-associated protein, also designated Cas- pr, CNTNAP1, or NCP1) and Caspr2 (contactin-associated protein related 2, CNTNAP2) are found mainly at para- D. Weichenhan (&) nodes and juxtaparanodes, respectively, which are specific Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, 69120 Heidelberg, subdomains of the nodes of Ranvier in myelinated axons. Germany e-mail: [email protected] Functional studies revealed that Caspr1, together with contactin, is required for generation of the axoglial junc- W. Traut Á H. Winking tion, whereas targeted disruption of gene Caspr2 leads to a Institut fu¨r Biologie, Universita¨tLu¨beck, 23538 Lu¨beck, striking reduction in the juxtaparanodal accumulation of Germany specific potassium channels (for review see Poliak and C. Go¨ngrich Á H. Monyer Peles 2003). Both proteins have been implicated in the Klinische Neurobiologie, Universita¨tsklinikum Heidelberg, demyelination and remyelination of axons in patients with 69120 Heidelberg, Germany multiple sclerosis (Coman et al. 2006; Wolswijk and H. Himmelbauer Balesar 2003). Moreover, CNTNAP2 has recently been Max-Planck-Institut fu¨r Molekulare Genetik, 14195 Berlin, identified as a susceptibility gene in autism spectrum dis- Germany orders (Alarcon et al. 2008; Arking et al. 2008; Bakkaloglu et al. 2008). Structure and subcellular distribution of pro- L. Busch Institut fu¨r Anatomie, Universita¨tLu¨beck, 23538 Lu¨beck, teins Caspr3 and Caspr4 suggest a role in cell recognition Germany within the nervous system (Spiegel et al. 2002). 123 676 D. Weichenhan et al.: Caspr5-2 disruption and perinatal lethality The least studied gene of the family is Caspr5. We have Table 1 RPCI-23 BAC clones from chrs 1 and 8 recently characterized three mouse orthologs, Caspr5-1, -2, Name Position (Mb) Labeled chr Locus and -3, of the human CASPR5 gene (Traut et al. 2006). Their multidomain protein structures, as deduced from the Chr 1 nucleotide sequence, are rather similar among each other 132a7 95.3 1, 18 1D and to those of proteins Caspr1 to Caspr4. Expression 70l11 95.4 1, 18 1D studies revealed overlapping expression patterns, predom- 19e22 95.6 1, 18 1D inantly in nervous tissues. Caspr5-1 and Caspr5-2 map to 77e14 99.0 1, 18 1E1 adjacent loci on chromosome (chr) 1, while Caspr5-3 maps 27f3 101.2 1, 18 1E1–2.1 to chr 17. Caspr5 genes are rather large, more than 640 kb, 202a19 101.4 1, 18 1E2.1 and consist of 24 exons. 217j9 101.6 1, 18 1E2.1 Animal models containing null mutations by experi- 472i23 101.7 1, 18,81 1E2.1 mental gene knockout are in widespread use to study the 425e13 101.7 1, 18,81 1E2.1 function of interesting genes, e.g., candidate genes for 365b12 101.8 1, 18,81 1E2.1 human diseases. Loss of gene function can also occur 350B3 102.9 1, 81 1E2.1 spontaneously by chromosomal rearrangements. Here we 84m14 105.9 1, 81 1E2.1–2.2 describe a reciprocal translocation between mouse chr 1 66a20 117.5 1, 81 1E2.3 and chr 8 leading to the disruption of the Caspr5-2 gene. 406i13 117.6 1, 81 1E2.3 The null mutation in Caspr5-2 causes perinatal lethality in Chr 8 homozygous mutation carriers, while heterozygous animals 91c5 27.1 8, 81 8A4 are phenotypically inconspicuous. Rare survivors among 7e12 28.5 8, 81 8A4 homozygotes suggest functional rescue of Caspr5-2, pre- 5e5 30.7 8, 81 8A4 sumably by either Caspr5-1 or Caspr5-3. Expression 98i10 31.9 8, 81 8A4-B1 analysis revealed that transcription of the three paralogous 142f11 32.0 8, 81 8A4-B1 genes is restricted to partially overlapping areas of the 325b24 32.2 8, 81 8B1 central nervous system. Our data suggest the evolution of 19n19 32.4 8, 81 8B1 diverging gene functions among mouse Caspr5 paralogs 11p20 32.6 8, 81 8B1 after the original Caspr5 gene had undergone duplications 348e10 32.9 8, 81 8B1 in the rodent lineage. 74h12 33.4 8, 81 8B1 355f14 33.3 8, 81,18 8B1 134d20 33.6 8, 18 8B1 Materials and methods 78g23 34.2 8, 18 8B1 124h22 42.1 8, 18 8B1 G-banding and fluorescence in situ hybridization 193h13 48.3 8, 18 8B3 (FISH) mapping Mouse chromosomes were prepared from spleen cell culture or yolk sac epithelium and G-banded according to Seabright neonates, two pups of 2 days, one pup of 10 days, and one (1971). Bacterial artifical chromosome (BAC) clones of the adult were dissected and examined under a dissecting RPCI-23 library (Osoegawa et al. 2000) were used as probes microscope, fixed in Bouin’s fluid, and stored in 70% for FISH to chromosomes (Table 1). BACs were isolated by ethanol. The brains of the two embryos and of two het- alkaline lysis (Birnboim and Doly 1979), labeled with biotin, erozygous siblings were further processed, dehydrated, and and used in BAC FISH as described in detail in Traut et al. embedded in paraffin. Transverse serial sections of 5-lm (2006). For chromosome painting we used the chr 1 and chr 8 thickness were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Star*FISH probes (Cambio, Cambridge, UK) according to inspected for histologic abnormalities. the protocol of the manufacturer. Isolation of RNA and genomic DNA Morphologic inspection of homozygous translocation carriers Total RNA was prepared with the Trizol (Invitrogen, Germany, Karlsruhe) method. First-strand cDNA was In a search for malformations in homozygous translocation synthesized from total RNA using Superscript III (Invit- carriers, two day-16 embryos (plug day = day 1), two rogen) reverse transcriptase. Isolation of genomic mouse 123 D. Weichenhan et al.: Caspr5-2 disruption and perinatal lethality 677 DNA by phenol/chloroform extraction and Southern PCR hybridization after alkaline DNA transfer to nylon mem- branes were performed by applying standard methods PCR reactions giving rise to expected products of less than (Sambrook and Russell 2001). 1 kb were carried out with Taq polymerase from Qiagen (Hilgen, Germany). Inverse PCRs (Ochman et al. 1990) Genotyping were performed with the Expand kit from Roche (Mann- heim, Germany). Prior to inverse PCR, the genomic For routine genotyping we used PCR with primers of template DNA was cut with a restriction enzyme and re- microsatellite marker D1Mit157 (http://www.informatics. ligated as specified in Results. PCR reactions were per- jax.org). D1Mit157 is located at position *101.4 Mb on formed as follows: 95°C for 2 min; ten cycles with 94°C chr 1, only *330 kb proximal to the breakpoint. A for 15 sec, specific annealing temperature TA (Table 2) D1Mit157 allele of *160 bp defined wild-type chr 1, an (where TA is decreased by 0.5°C/cycle) for 15 sec, and allele of *180 bp defined the translocation chr 18. The 72°C (Qiagen Taq polymerase) or 68°C (Expand) for karyotype was regularly checked with conventional cyto- extension time t (in minutes) (see Table 2); 30 cycles with genetic techniques in the breeding colony. We never 94°C for 15 sec, (TA - 5)°C for 15 sec, 72°Cor68°C for t observed a discrepancy between PCR results and karyo- min, and 72°C for 2 min or 68°C for 5 min. typing for the discrimination of heterozygous and Reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR reactions for monitor- homozygous carriers of the translocation and wild-type ing expression of Caspr5-1, Caspr5-2, and Caspr5-3 were mice. performed as described (Traut et al. 2006), using primers Table 2 PCR primers, specific annealing temperatures (TA), and extension times (t) 0 0 Name 5 –3 sequence Chr: position TA (°C) t (min) C1F1 AACTCTGAGTTTGCGGGTACCTC 1: 101778363–101778385 60 13 C1B1 GGAACTAGAGAATGGGCAAGTGG 1: 101768061–101768083 C1F1 AACTCTGAGTTTGCGGGTACCTC 1: 101778361–101778385 59 3 C1B6 AAAAGAAAACACTTAGCCCATCC 1: 101775555–101775578 C1F10 TGAGAGTAGAGTTATCTTCCCTG 1: 101772010–101772032 56 1 C1B12 AGATCTGCTTACATTCCACTGC 1: 101771451–101771472