A Role for PGC-1α in Transcription and Excitability of Neocortical and Hippocampal Excitatory Neurons.

The transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) is a critical regulator of genes involved in neuronal metabolism, neurotransmission, and morphology. Reduced PGC-1α expression has been implicated in several neurological and psychiatric disorders. An understanding of PGC-1α's roles in different cell types will help determine the functional consequences of PGC-1α dysfunction and/or deficiency in disease. Reports from our laboratory and others suggest a critical role for PGC-1α in inhibitory neurons with high metabolic demand such as fast-spiking interneurons. Here, we document a previously unrecognized role for PGC-1α in maintenance of gene expression programs for synchronous neurotransmitter release, structure, and metabolism in neocortical and hippocampal excitatory neurons. Deletion of PGC-1α from these neurons caused ambulatory hyperactivity in response to a novel environment and enhanced glutamatergic transmission in neocortex and hippocampus, along with reductions in mRNA levels from several PGC-1α neuron-specific target genes. Given the potential role for a reduction in PGC-1α expression or activity in Huntington Disease (HD), we compared reductions in transcripts found in the neocortex and hippocampus of these mice to that of an HD knock-in model; few of these transcripts were reduced in this HD model. These data provide novel insight into the function of PGC-1α in glutamatergic neurons and suggest that it is required for the regulation of structural, neurosecretory, and metabolic genes in both glutamatergic neuron and fast-spiking interneuron populations in a region-specific manner. These findings should be considered when inferring the functional relevance of changes in PGC-1α gene expression in the context of disease.

Purkinje cell dysfunction and loss in a knock-in mouse model of Huntington disease.

Huntington Disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurological disorder characterized by motor, psychiatric and cognitive disturbances. Recent evidence indicates that the viability and function of cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) are compromised in an aggressive mouse model of HD. Here we investigate whether this is also the case in the HdhQ200 knock-in mouse model of HD. Using quantitative-real time-PCR and immunofluorescence, we observed a loss of the PC marker and calcium buffer calbindin in 50week-old symptomatic mice. Reductions were also observed in parvalbumin and glutamic acid decarboxylase protein expression, most markedly in the molecular cell layer. Stereological analysis revealed an overall reduction in the PC population in HdhQ200/Q200 mice by nearly 40%, and loose patch electrophysiology of remaining PCs indicated a reduction in firing rate in HD mice compared to control littermates. Taken together, these data demonstrate that PC survival and function are compromised in a mouse model of adult-onset HD and suggest that further experiments should investigate the contribution of PC death and dysfunction to HD-associated motor impairment.

Neuronal intranuclear inclusions and neuropil aggregates in HdhCAG(150) knockin mice.

We studied the development of neuronal intranuclear inclusions (NIIs), neuropil aggregates (NAs), and expression of expanded repeat polyglutamine protein in the HdhCAG(150) knockin mouse model of Huntington's disease (HD). Diffuse nuclear localization of huntingtin protein (htt) was noted initially within striatal neurons at approximately 28 weeks, followed by the development of striatal htt immunoreactive NIIs by approximately 40 weeks. Striatal NIIs were observed initially in clusters within the matrix compartment but subsequently became diffusely distributed throughout the striatum. In the oldest animals (107 weeks), NIIs were enlarged and diffuse nuclear htt immunoreactivity reduced. Expression of ubiquitin immunoreactive NIIs paralleled but lagged behind the expression of htt immunoreactive NIIs. Abundant NIIs were found by approximately 75 weeks in layers 3 and 4 of somatosensory cortex and in layer 2 of piriform cortex. In the oldest animals, greater than 100 weeks, some NIIs were found in many brain regions. NAs were found mainly within the globus pallidus and substantia nigra, perhaps reflecting expression in striatal terminals. Cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CBP) was not localized to NIIs, arguing against gross sequestration of this transcriptionally active protein. Comparison of the relative levels of a common polyglutamine epitope in HdhCAG(150) knockin and hprtCAG(146) knockin mice shows greater expression of the polyglutamine epitope in the phenotypically less aggressive HdhCAG(150) knockin line. HdhCAG(150) knockin mice may be a model of early pathologic changes in HD.

Neurological abnormalities in a knock-in mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Mice representing precise genetic replicas of Huntington's disease (HD) were made using gene targeting to replace the short CAG repeat of the mouse Huntington's disease gene homolog (HDH:) with CAG repeats within the length range found to cause HD in humans. Mice with alleles of approximately 150 units in length exhibit late-onset behavioral and neuroanatomic abnormalities consistent with HD. These symptoms include a motor task deficit, gait abnormalities, reactive gliosis and the formation of neuronal intranuclear inclusions predominating in the striatum. This model differs from previously described HDH: knock-ins by its method of construction, longer repeat length and more severe phenotype. To our knowledge, this is the first knock-in mouse model of HD to show increased glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity in the striatum, suggesting that these mice have neuronal injury similar to that found early in the course of HD. These mice will serve as useful reagents in experiments designed to reveal the molecular nature of neuronal dysfunction underlying HD.

Efficient repetitive alteration of the mouse Huntington's disease gene by management of background in the tag and exchange gene targeting strategy.

The introduction of subtle mutations to predetermined locations in the mouse genome has aided in the assessment of gene function and the precise modeling of inherited disorders. Subtle mutations can be engineered into the mouse genome by the tag and exchange gene targeting strategy (Askew et al., 1993; Stacey et al., 1994; Wu et al., 1994). This two-step method involves both a positive and a negative selection. The negative selection step typically generates a large amount of undesired background that may prevent the practical recovery of gene targeted clones (Vazquez et al., 1998). In this work we describe a strategy to effectively manage this background by calculation of a tolerable level of background for a specific targeting event, pre-screening for clones with low background, subcloning and growth of cell lines under selection. This strategy was used to repeatedly and efficiently alter the mouse Huntington's disease homologue (Hdh) resulting in an average of 15 percent of the clones having the desired modification. Analysis of the remaining background clones showed they arose de novo by a mechanism that involved physical loss of the marker rather than mutation or inactivation. We calculated the rate of loss of this marker as 8.3 x 10(-6) events/cell/generation. We further show that the exchanged clones retained the capacity to contribute to the mouse germline demonstrating the utility of this strategy in the production of mouse lines with Hdh variants.

Analysis of the 5' end of the mouse Elavl1 (mHuA) gene reveals a transcriptional regulatory element and evidence for conserved genomic organization.

mHuA (Elavl1) belongs to a highly conserved family of genes encoding RNA-binding proteins and has been linked to cell growth and proliferation through its regulation of mRNA stability. Here, we use an RNase protection assay to demonstrate that the mHuA transcript is relatively abundant in a range of mouse tissues, with the highest levels being found in lung and embryonic stem cells. We then cloned and mapped an 18 kb DNA fragment which encompasses the 5' end of the mHuA gene. The genomic organization in this region is similar to the neural-restricted family members, Hel-N1 (ELAVL2) and mHuD (Elavl4). The first exon is lengthy and untranslated, and the second exon, which includes the methionine start site, ends between the ribonucleoprotein motifs of the first RNA binding domain. Mapping of the mHuA transcript by primer extension demonstrated three potential transcription-initiation sites which were detected consistently among different tissues and cell lines. Analysis of the sequence flanking these sites revealed the presence of transcriptional elements including TATA, CREB, c-ets, and AP1 sites. Transfection analysis of this promoter region using a luciferase-reporter-gene assay indicated strong transcriptional activity both in HeLa and in mouse macrophage (RAW) cells which is consistent with the ubiquitous expression pattern of mHuA. Thus, while the genomic organization of mHuA is similar to the neural-restricted members of the Elav family, the promoter element differs substantially both by sequence analysis and transcriptional activity in non-neural cell types.

CAG-polyglutamine-repeat mutations: independence from gene context.

Several neurological disorders have been attributed to the inheritance of long CAG-polyglutamine repeats. Unlike classical mutations, whose deleterious effects are totally dependent on the context of the gene in which they reside, these translated CAG repeat mutations have been shown to cause neurotoxicity and neuronal intranuclear inclusions when expressed outside their natural gene context. We provide a description of mice with different lengths of repeat in the foreign context of the murine Hprt locus, focusing on aspects of the phenotype that provide an insight into the mechanism by which this unusual mutation might cause toxicity.

Ectopically expressed CAG repeats cause intranuclear inclusions and a progressive late onset neurological phenotype in the mouse.

The mutations responsible for several human neurodegenerative disorders are expansions of translated CAG repeats beyond a normal size range. To address the role of repeat context, we have introduced a 146-unit CAG repeat into the mouse hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase gene (Hprt). Mutant mice express a form of the HPRT protein that contains a long polyglutamine repeat. These mice develop a phenotype similar to the human translated CAG repeat disorders. Repeat containing mice show a late onset neurological phenotype that progresses to premature death. Neuronal intranuclear inclusions are present in affected mice. Our results show that CAG repeats do not need to be located within one of the classic repeat disorder genes to have a neurotoxic effect.

A mouse model for beta 0-thalassemia.

We have used a "plug and socket" targeting technique to generate a mouse model of beta 0-thalassemia in which both the b1 and b2 adult globin genes have been deleted. Mice homozygous for this deletion (Hbbth-3/Hbbth-3) die perinatally, similar to the most severe form of Cooley anemia in humans. Mice heterozygous for the deletion appear normal, but their hematologic indices show characteristics typical of severe thalassemia, including dramatically decreased hematocrit, hemoglobin, red blood cell counts, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, as well as dramatically increased reticulocyte counts, serum bilirubin concentrations, and red cell distribution widths. Tissue and organ damage typical of beta-thalassemia, such as bone deformities and splenic enlargement due to increased hematopoiesis, are also seen in the heterozygous animals, as is spontaneous iron overload in the spleen, liver, and kidneys. The mice homozygous for the b1 and b2 deletions should be of great value in developing therapies for the treatment of thalassemias in utero. The heterozygous animals will be useful for studying the pathophysiology of thalassemias and have the potential of generating a model of sickle cell anemia when mated with appropriate transgenic animals.

Deletion and replacement of the mouse adult beta-globin genes by a "plug and socket" repeated targeting strategy.

We describe a two-step strategy to alter any mouse locus repeatedly and efficiently by direct positive selection. Using conventional targeting for the first step, a functional neo gene and a nonfunctional HPRT minigene (the "socket") are introduced into the genome of HPRT- embryonic stem (ES) cells close to the chosen locus, in this case the beta-globin locus. For the second step, a targeting construct (the "plug") that recombines homologously with the integrated socket and supplies the remaining portion of the HPRT minigene is used; this homologous recombination generates a functional HPRT gene and makes the ES cells hypoxanthine-aminopterin-thymidine resistant. At the same time, the plug provides DNA sequences that recombine homologously with sequences in the target locus and modifies them in the desired manner; the plug is designed so that correctly targeted cells also lose the neo gene and become G418 sensitive. We have used two different plugs to make alterations in the mouse beta-globin locus starting with the same socket-containing ES cell line. One plug deleted 20 kb of DNA containing the two adult beta-globin genes. The other replaced the same region with the human beta-globin gene containing the mutation responsible for sickle cell anemia.