Aneuploidy and morphogenesis.
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Aneuploidy↗
Biomedical subjects
C J Epstein
Publications and source records attributed to C J Epstein.
Modeling cholinergic abnormalities in Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease.
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Alzheimer Disease↗
The forensic applications of molecular genetics--the journal's responsibility.
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Forensic Medicine↗
The consequences of chromosome imbalance.
Review of the clinical cytogenetic literature provides compelling evidence for a specific relationship between imbalance of particular chromosomes or chromosomal regions and the appearance of defined patterns of phenotypic abnormalities. In many instances, detailed phenotypic mapping has made it possible to assign portions of a phenotype to relatively small chromosome segments, which are sometimes referred to as "critical regions." However, since these regions are usually defined by a subset of the phenotypic manifestations of an aneuploidy syndrome--generally those anomalies that are regarded as most characteristic or readily observable--it is important not to fall into the trap of thinking that it is imbalance of only these regions that has deleterious effects on development and function. Thus, in Down syndrome, the presence of an extra copy of the proximal part of 21q22.3 appears to result in the typical physical phenotype--as defined principally in terms of the characteristic facial and hand anomalies and congenital heart defect--in addition to mental retardation. But, duplication of proximal 21q also affects mental development, and the regions responsible for many other aspects of the Down syndrome phenotype, including Alzheimer disease, have not been defined at all. Therefore, it remains likely that loci present on many parts of the long arm of chromosome 21 play a role in the development of the overall phenotype of Down syndrome. The immediate effect at the molecular level of an aneuploidy-caused alteration in gene dose appears to be a non-compensated commensurate change in the production of gene products.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Aneuploidy↗
Down syndrome: toward a molecular definition of the phenotype.
Down syndrome (DS) is a major cause of mental retardation and heart disease. Although it is usually caused by the presence of an extra chromosome 21, a subset of the diagnostic features may be caused by the presence of only band q22. Molecular and cytogenetic analysis of a family with 4 DS members has significantly narrowed the chromosomal region responsible for the DS phenotype: congenital heart disease, facial features, and possibly dermatoglyphics. Using high-resolution chromosome banding and in situ hybridization, we found the DS phenotype in the family is caused by a duplication of chromosome 21 material including a region of distal band q22.1 below the limit of cytogenetic resolution, in addition to bands q22.2-q22.3. By quantitative Southern blot analyses of DS members of the family, all random DNA sequences and expressed genes mapping in band q22.1 and proximal are found not to be duplicated. These include cDNA probes for the genes for superoxide dismutase (SOD1) mapping in 21q22.1 and for the amyloid precursor protein (APP) mapping in 21q21.05; D21S46 in 21q11.2-21.05; and D21S47 and SF57 in 21q22.1-q22.3. With one exception, DNA sequences mapping in band q22.3 are duplicated (D21S39, D21SD42, and D21S43). This analysis has now been extended to show that D21S17, previously mapped to band 21q22.3, is not duplicated. In conclusion, the genes SOD1 and APP have been excluded from a necessary role in generating the classical DS features, and the proximal border of the chromosomal region causing DS has been defined.
Base Sequence↗
Attenuation of glutamate-induced neuronal swelling and toxicity in transgenic mice overexpressing human CuZn-superoxide dismutase.
The role of oxygen-derived free radicals, superoxide in particular, in the pathogenesis of neuronal cell death induced by glutamate was studied using primary culture cortical neurons from transgenic mice overexpressing human CuZn-superoxide dismutase. Primary cortical neuron cultures were developed form 15-day-old fetuses of both transgenic mice and their normal littermates. Both human CuZn-superoxide dismutase and host mouse CuZn-superoxide dismutase activities in cultured neurons were identified by native gel electrophoresis followed by nitroblue tetrazolium staining. Cultured neurons grown for 10-12 days in vitro were exposed briefly to 0.5 mM glutamate for 5 minutes, followed by biochemical and morphological examinations at 2 and 4 hours. Our data have demonstrated that glutamate neurotoxicity is significantly reduced in transgenic neurons at 2 and 4 hours following exposure to glutamate, as measured by the intracellular 3-0-methyl glucose space, the efflux of lactate dehydrogenase, and by phase-contrast and bright-field trypan blue staining. These data indicate that transgenic neurons containing two- to threefold the normal amount of CuZn-superoxide dismutase activity are protected against glutamate neurotoxicity in vitro. Our results suggest that oxidative stress play an important role in glutamate-induced neuronal swelling and toxicity.
3-O-Methylglucose↗
Quantitative autoradiographic distribution of [3H]mazindol-labeled dopamine uptake sites in the brains of superoxide dismutase transgenic mice.
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an important enzyme which is involved in the dismutation of the toxic radical, superoxide anion. The activity of CuZnSOD is increased in patients who suffer from Down's Syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, and in Parkinson's disease. In order to evaluate the contribution of this enzyme to the neuropathology of these neurodegenerative diseases, transgenic mice have been constructed which express the human CuZnSOD gene. As a first step towards exploring these issues, we have carried out an autoradiographic binding study of the distribution of the catecholaminergic uptake blocker mazindol in the brain of these transgenic mice and of their littermates. Desmethylimipramine (DMI)-insensitive [3H]mazindol binding sites which correspond to dopamine uptake sites were located in the striatum, the nucleus accumbens, the olfactory tubercle and in the substantia nigra. Within the striatum, there was a lateromedial gradient, with higher concentration of dopamine uptake sites being found laterally. These findings suggest that subregions of the basal ganglia may be more susceptible to the deleterious effects of dopaminotoxic drugs which are taken up into the dopaminergic neurons via these uptake sites. Saturation experiments revealed no differences in the characteristics of [3H]mazindol binding sites between the two groups of mice. Thus, increased activity of SOD is not associated with diffuse changes in the molecular structures of receptors in mice brain.
Animals↗
Effects of the lethal yellow (Ay) mutation in mouse aggregation chimeras.
The Ay allele is a recessive lethal mutation at the mouse agouti locus, which results in embryonic death around the time of implantation. In the heterozygous state, Ay produces several dominant pleiotropic effects, including an increase in weight gain and body length, a susceptibility to hepatic, pulmonary and mammary tumors, and a suppression of the agouti phenotype, which results in a yellow coat color. To investigate the cellular action of Ay with regard to its effects upon embryonic viability and adult-onset obesity, we generated a series of aggregation chimeras using embryos that differ in their agouti locus genotype. Embryos derived from Ay/a x Ay/a matings were aggregated with those derived from A/A x A/A matings, and genotypic identification of the resultant chimeras was accomplished using a molecular probe at the Emv-15 locus that distinguishes among the three different alleles, Ay, A, and a. Among 50 chimeras, 25 analyzed as liveborns and 25 as 9.5 day embryos, 29 were a/a in equilibrium A/A and 21 were Ay/a in equilibrium A/A. The absence of Ay/Ay in equilibrium A/A chimeras demonstrates that Ay/Ay cells cannot be rescued in a chimeric environment, and the relative deficiency of Ay/a in equilibrium A/A chimeras suggests that, under certain conditions, Ay heterozygosity may partially affect cell viability or proliferation. In the 25 liveborn chimeras, Ay/a in equilibrium A/A animals became obese as adults and a/a in equilibrium A/A animals did not. There was no correlation between genotypic proportions and rate of weight gain, which shows that, with regard to its effects on weight gain, Ay heterozygosity is cell non-autonomous.
Animals↗
Models for Down syndrome: chromosome 21-specific genes in mice.
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Animals↗
Reduced neurotoxicity in transgenic mice overexpressing human copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase.
The role of oxygen-derived free radicals, superoxide in particular, in the pathogenesis of neuronal cell death induced by glutamate was studied using cultured cortical neurons from transgenic mice overexpressing human copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase. Primary cortical neuron cultures were developed from 15-day-old fetuses of both transgenic mice and their normal littermates. Both human copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase and host mouse copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase activities in cultured neurons were identified by native gel electrophoresis followed by nitroblue tetrazolium staining. Cultured neurons grown for 10-12 days in vitro were exposed briefly to 0.5 mM glutamate for 5 minutes, followed by biochemical and morphological examinations at 2, 4, and 24 hours. Our data have demonstrated that glutamate neurotoxicity is significantly reduced in transgenic neurons at 2 and 4 hours following exposure to glutamate, as measured by the efflux of lactate dehydrogenase, the 3-O-methyl glucose space, and by phase-contrast and bright-field trypan blue staining. These data indicate that transgenic neurons containing twofold to threefold the normal amount of copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase activity as the result of expression of the human copper-zinc-superoxide dismutase transgene are protected against glutamate neurotoxicity in vitro. Our results suggest that oxidative stress, at least in part, plays an important role in the biochemical pathways amplifying N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-mediated neurotoxicity.
Animals↗
Electrophysiological analysis of cultured fetal mouse dorsal root ganglion neurons transgenic for human superoxide dismutase-1, a gene in the Down syndrome region of chromosome 21.
Our recent whole cell patch-pipette studies have shown that human trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) cultured fetal dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons have accelerated rates of action potential depolarization and repolarization, with reduced spike duration, compared to control neurons. Similar observations were made using DRG neurons from the trisomy 16 mouse, an animal model of trisomy 21. In this study we have used transgenic mice in order to investigate the relationship between excess gene dosage and neurophysiological abnormalities. DRG neurons which possessed additional copies of the gene for human superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD), a gene from the Down syndrome region of chromosome 21, were compared to normal neurons. No electrophysiological differences were found between the two groups of neurons, indicating that increased dosage of the SOD gene alone is not causal to action potential dysfunction found in trisomy 21 and trisomy 16 neurons.
Animals↗
Delayed thymocyte maturation in the trisomy 16 mouse fetus.
Mouse fetuses with trisomy 16, an animal model for human trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), have severe defects in several hematopoietic stem cell populations and a marked reduction in thymocyte number. To determine whether there are other defects in the development of the trisomic thymus, the ontogeny of the cell surface antigenic determinants, Thy-1, Ly-1, CD3, CD4, CD8, and TCR v beta, was investigated. The trisomy 16 thymocytes were able to express all of determinants either during fetal life (days 14 to 19 of gestation) or in cultures of intact thymus lobes. However, in all instances (except for Thy-1, which already had a high proportion of expressing thymocytes by day 14), there was a delay in the time at which the determinants were first expressed, as manifested by reduced numbers of positively staining cells. Furthermore, there was also a delay in the rate at which the positively staining cells attained maximal Ag densities. Overall, there was an approximate 2 day lag in development of the fetal trisomic thymocytes. This lag permitted the identification of a large population of CD4-8+ cells prior to the appearance of CD4+8+ thymocytes. These findings are consistent with the identification of CD4-8+ as an intermediate stage between CD4-8- and CD4+8+ in fetal thymocyte ontogeny.
Animals↗
The long-range restriction map surrounding the mouse agouti locus reveals a disparity between physical and genetic distances.
Isolation of a gene based on its location, which depends on aligning physical landmarks with the genetic map, can yield basic information about genome structure and organization. As a first step toward isolating the mouse agouti (A) locus, we have begun to define the physical position of this gene relative to genetically linked DNA probes from the Psp, Emv-15, and Src loci. Using a combination of pulsed-field gel techniques that include partial digestion with rare-cutting restriction enzymes and analysis of polymorphic sites present in certain inbred strains, we have constructed long-range restriction maps for each of the probes that span a total of more than 3000 kb. The Src and Emv-15 probes are less than 600 kb apart, but are separated from the Psp probe by at least 1500 kb. By determining the position of a 75-kb deletion that inactivates agouti function, we have localized the A locus to within 500 kb of the Psp probe, but more than 600 kb away from the Emv-15 probe. These physical distances contrast with the known recombination frequencies, 3 +/- 3 cM for A-Psp and less than 0.3 cM for A-Emv-15, and suggest that recombination between A and Emv-15 may be suppressed.
Animals↗
Genomic imprinting: normal complementation of murine chromosome 16.
Parental imprinting effects for chromosome 16 were investigated using disomic animals which were obtained by mating (Rb32Lub x Rb2H) F1 mice. Two allelic forms of the enzyme CuZn-superoxide dismutase, Sod-1a and Sod-1c, were used to identify maternally or paternally disomic animals. Both types of disomic animals were found with the expected frequencies and did not visibly differ from one another or from non-disomic animals. These results indicate that the genomic imprinting mechanism either does not act on chromosome 16, or, if it does, does not do so in a manner which affects normal development.
Animals↗
Physical and genetic characterization of a 75-kilobase deletion associated with al, a recessive lethal allele at the mouse agouti locus.
The agouti locus (A) of the mouse determines the timing and type of pigment deposition in the growing hair bulb, and several alleles at this locus are lethal when homozygous. Apparent instances of intragenic recombination and complementation between different recessive lethal alleles have suggested that the locus has a complex structure. We have begun to investigate the molecular basis of agouti gene action and recessive lethality by using a series of genetically linked DNA probes and pulsed field gel electrophoresis to detect structural alterations in radiation-induced agouti mutations. Hybridization probes from the Src and Emv-15 loci do not reveal molecular alterations in DNA corresponding to the ae, ax, and al alleles, but a probe from the parotid secretory protein gene (Psp) detects a 75-kilobase (kb) deletion in DNA containing the non-agouti lethal allele (al). The deletion is defined by a 75-kb reduction in the size of BssHII, NotI, NruI and SacII high molecular weight restriction fragments detected with the Psp probe and is located between 25 kb and 575 kb from Psp coding sequences. Because the genetic distance between A and Emv-15 is much less than A and Psp, there may be a preferred site of recombination close to Psp, or suppression of recombination between A and Emv-15. The al deletion has allowed us to determine the genotype of mice heterozygous for different recessive lethal alleles. We find that three different recessive lethal complementation groups are present at the agouti locus, two of which are contained within the al deletion.
Alleles↗
The von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis region on chromosome 17--genetic and physical maps come into focus.
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Chromosome Mapping↗
Voltage-activated sodium conductances in cultured normal and trisomy 16 dorsal root ganglion neurons from the fetal mouse.
Current and voltage clamp recordings were made with a patch-clamp technique from large, light, dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons in tissue culture, derived from trisomy 16 and normal fetal mice. In a Na gradient of [52 mM]o/[28 mM]i, the action potential was accelerated, depolarization and repolarization were faster and the total Na conductance was higher in trisomic neurons. A tetrodotoxin (TTX)-sensitive, fast Na current was demonstrated, about 0.9 nA in trisomic and 0.3 nA in control neurons. The calculated mean specific membrane conductances were 0.74 mS/cm2 and 0.28 mS/cm2, respectively. A TTX-insensitive, slow Na conductance, 3-4 times the fast Na conductance and sensitive to Cd, also was demonstrated, with a 2-fold greater current density and conductance in trisomic as compared with control neurons, of 2.22 +/- 0.54 mS/cm2 and 1.26 +/- 0.09 mS/cm2, respectively. The voltage-dependence and kinetics of the TTX-insensitive, slow, Na current were similar in the two neuronal groups. The results indicate that depolarization during the action potential, in fetal mouse DRG neurons in culture, is mediated by this slow TTX-insensitive Na current. Further, acceleration of depolarization in trisomy 16 neurons is caused by a 2-fold increase in the density of the slow Na current.
Action Potentials↗