Molecular Analysis of GTF2IRD1: a Protein Implicated in the Neurobehavioural Features of Williams-Beuren Syndrome
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Molecular analysis of GTF2IRD1: a protein implicated in the neurobehavioural features of Williams-Beuren Syndrome Jocelyn Widagdo BSc (Hons Class I) A thesis submitted to the University of New South Wales in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Medicine University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia February 2011 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed ( 05 j 5- o t \ Date AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed Date ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed JOCELYN WIDAGDO Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are so many people who have given me supports in many ways during the past four years of this challenging yet most rewarding experience. Firstly, thank you to Prof Edna Hardeman, who has given me continual supports and encouragement since I was an undergraduate summer scholar, and which I have no doubt, will keep going beyond this day. I am grateful for your mentoring, attentiveness, and critical mind that always push me to find ways to reach for the 'answer. To Dr Stephen Palmer, 1 am greatly thankful for your dedicated supervision, invaluable advice from project direction to lab technical matters, and your support during the intense thesis writing. Yes, it has come to an end! Thank you to Kylie Taylor who is always happy to help with any experiments and lab matters. To all members of the Oncology Research Unit and the bigger Cellular Genetic Medicine Unit, thank you for the friendship and making work so much more enjoyable. Thanks to Prof Peter Gunning for the many enthusiastic discussions, constant support and direction to the project. Thanks to Renee Szokolai for keeping our lab safe and running efficiently. Thanks to Christine Lucas who can always bring laughter and to Josephine Joya for being the mother figure in the lab. I would like to thank the past members of the lab and colleagues at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) at Westmead for getting me started in the early years of my research life. Special thanks to Dr Enoch Tay for the supervision and introducing me to the research world and to Kata Popovic for the friendship and assistance. Thanks to Dr Christine Smyth and staffs at the Westmead Millenium Institute for the tireless help with the seemingly impossible FACS project! I would also like to thank all our colleagues who have kindly provided me with the reagents which would otherwise not be available for my research. I would also like to acknowledge the financial support from the University of Sydney (University Postgraduate Award) and the CMRI (supplementary scholarship), which then continued by the Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales. To Victor Anggono, my fiancee and mentor, thank you for your faith and dedication and endless support throughout this journey. It wasn't easy, but we were where we were, learning what we have to. Lastly, I am blessed for having supportive and loving big families and I thank God for this. PUBLICATIONS PUBLISHED ARTICLES Palmer SJ, Santucci N, Widagdo J, Bontempo SJ, Taylor KM, Tay ES, Hook J, Lemckert F, Gunning PW, Hardeman EC (2010) Negative autoregulation of GTF2IRD1 in Williams-Beuren Syndrome via a novel DNA binding mechanism. J Biol Chem 285: 4715-4724. MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARA TION Howard ML, Tay E, Palmer SJ, Widagdo J, Taylor KM, Popovic K, Gunning PW, Spitzer MW, Murphy M, Arrthurson GJ, Pang TYC, Renoir T, Hannan AJ, Hardeman EC (201 1) Mutation of the Williams-Beuren syndrome-associated gene Gtflirdl causes altered GABAergic function and a unique behavioural phenotype including heightened vocalization. Submitted to Human Molecular Genetics (under review). Widagdo J, Taylor KM, Bontempo SJ, Hardeman EC, Palmer SJ (2011) Novel interaction between Williams Syndrome-related protein GTF21RD1 and a chromatin- associated protein, ZMYM5, is modulated by SUMOylation. Palmer SJ, Taylor KM, Santucci N, Widagdo J, Chan A, Yeo JL, Reynaud B, Guven K, Joya J, Adams M, Gunning PW, Hardeman EC (2011) GTF2IRD2 from the Williams-Beuren critical region encodes a nuclear/cytoplasmic protein that antagonizes GTF2IRD1 and TFII-I. CONFERENCE ABSTRA CTS Hardeman EC, Widagdo J, Howard ML, Hannan AJ, Gunning PW and Palmer SJ (2011) GTF2IRD1, implicated in the Williams syndrome cognitive profile, interacts with chromatin-regulating proteins. Talk presented at The Australian Neuroscience Society annual meeting, Auckland, New Zealand. Palmer SJ, Widagdo J, Taylor KM, Bontempo S, Gunning PW and Hardeman EC (2010) Specific interactions of the Williams-Beuren syndrome-associated protein GTF2IRD1 suggest a role in the chromatin reorganization. Poster presented at The American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting, Washington DC, USA. Widagdo J, Palmer SJ, Taylor KM, Bontempo S and Hardeman EC (2010) GTF2IRD1, a Williams Syndrome-related protein, is a novel SUMO substrate. Poster presented at the OzBio2010, Melbourne, VIC. Widagdo J, Tay ESE, Howard ML, Hannan AJ, Gunning PW, Hardeman EC and Palmer SJ (2010) GTF2IRD1, a Williams Syndrome-related protein, interacts with chromatin-regulating proteins: a novel role in epigenetics. Poster presented at the Gordon Research Conference: Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Hong Kong. Palmer SJ, Santucci N, Widagdo J, Bontempo S, Taylor KM, Tay ESE, Gunning PW and Hardeman EC (2009) The biochemistry and evolution of the Williams Beuren syndrome-associated gene GTF2IRD1. Talk presented at The American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii. Widagdo J, Tay ESE, Popovic K and Hardeman EC (2009) Molecular function of GTF2IRD1, a transcription factor implicated in Williams-Beuren Syndrome. Poster presented at The Australian Neuroscience Society annual meeting, Canberra, ACT. Widagdo J, Tay ESE and Hardeman EC (2007) A potential role for the serine protease inhibitor Serpina3n in the anxiety-like phenotype of Williams Syndrome. Poster presented at Westmead Association Research Meeting Symposium, Westmead Hospital, We st me ad, NSW. Widagdo J, Tay ESE and Hardeman EC (2007) Towards the molecular mechanism of Gtf'Iirdl in the neurocognitive pathology of Williams syndrome and human cognition/behaviour. Presented at the 7,h IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience, Melbourne, VIC. (Presenting authors are positioned first) ABSTRACT Background: Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that results from a hemizygous deletion involving up to 28 genes within chromosome 7q 11.23. WBS is characterised by a set of physical abnormalities and specific cognitive and behavioural features that are collectively called the Williams syndrome cognitive profile (WSCP). Genotype-phenotype correlations in patients with atypical deletions have implicated two members of the GTF2I protein family, GTF2IRD1 and TFI1-I, in the main aspects of the WSCP. We and others have generated Gtflirdl knockout mouse lines that show developmental and neurological abnormalities, including social and non-social anxiety-related behavioural changes, reminiscent of the WSCP. By analysing gene expression using a Gtf2irdl knockout/LacZ knockin mouse, we identified a major overlap of Gtfiirdl expression in GABAergic cell types, the major inhibitory neurons in the brain. However, the molecular function of GTF2IRD1 is poorly understood. GTF2IRD1 is generally considered to be a DNA-binding transcription factor with a number of proposed target genes that were originally identified in yeast one-hybrid experiments, but none have been confirmed in vivo, except for the GTF2IRD1 gene itself, which has been shown to be directly regulated by its own protein product. Aims: The aims of this thesis were to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of GTF2IRD1 function by investigating: i) potential target genes of GTF2IRD1 in the brain through microarray analyses; ii) novel protein partners of GTF2IRD1 via yeast two-hybrid screening and iii) post-translational regulation of the GTF21RD1 protein by SUMOylation. Results: i) A combination of gene expression profiling and bioinformatics analysis was utilised to search for genes that may be directly or indirectly regulated by GTF2IRD1. Firstly, microarray analyses of various brain regions from the Gtf2irdl knockout mice revealed unexpectedly subtle differences in their transcriptional profiles in comparison with wild type controls.