Maternal effects due to male attractiveness affect offspring development in the zebra finch.

Maternal effects occur when offspring phenotype is influenced by environmental factors experienced by the mother. Mothers are predicted to invest differentially in offspring in ways that will maximize offspring fitness depending on the environment she expects them to encounter. Here, we test for maternal effects in response to mate attractiveness on offspring developmental traits in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata. We controlled for parental genetic quality by manipulating male attractiveness using coloured leg rings and by randomly assigning mating pairs. The potential confounding effect of differential nestling care was controlled for by cross-fostering clutches and by allowing for variance due to foster father attractiveness in general linear models. We found a difference in egg mass investment between attractiveness groups and, importantly, we found that all of the offspring traits we measured varied with the attractiveness of the father. This provides strong evidence for maternal effects in response to mate attractiveness. Furthermore, due to the experiment design, we can conclude that these effects were mediated by differential investment of egg resources and not due to genetic differences or differences in nestling care.

Developmental malformations of the eye: the role of PAX6, SOX2 and OTX2.

Eye development initiates as an evagination of the early neural plate, before the closure of the neural tube. Structural malformations of the eye such as anophthalmia and microphthalmia arise very early in development. It is not surprising therefore that three of the genes currently identified to play a significant role in these developmental eye anomalies are also major players in brain development and regionalization. However, as has been emerging for a high proportion of transcriptional regulators studied, these genes have evolved to play multiple roles throughout development, and perhaps even in adult tissue maintenance. This complex spatiotemporal expression pattern requires elaborate regulatory systems which we are beginning to unravel. A major component of these complex regulatory networks is a series of cis-acting elements, highly conserved through evolution, which spread large distances from the coding region of each gene. We describe how cross regulation for PAX6, SOX2 and perhaps OTX2 has now been uncovered, pointing to the mechanisms that can fine-tune the expression of such essential developmental components. These interactions also help us understand why there is significant phenotypic overlap between mutations at these three loci.

Cognitive functioning in humans with mutations of the PAX6 gene.

Fourteen patients with PAX6 gene mutations and previously identified MRI abnormalities were administered tests of cognitive functioning. No deficits were found. A subgroup with agenesis of the anterior commissure performed significantly more poorly on measures of working memory than those without this abnormality, suggesting the anterior commissure may play a role in cognitive processing in addition to an earlier identified role in sensory development and processing.

PAX6 haploinsufficiency causes cerebral malformation and olfactory dysfunction in humans.

PAX6 is widely expressed in the central nervous system. Heterozygous PAX6 mutations in human aniridia cause defects that would seem to be confined to the eye. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and smell testing reveal the absence or hypoplasia of the anterior commissure and reduced olfaction in a large proportion of aniridia cases, which shows that PAX6 haploinsuffiency causes more widespread human neuro developmental anomalies.

The gene for the cyclin-dependent-kinase-4 inhibitor, CDKN2A, is preferentially deleted in malignant mesothelioma.

Cytogenetic deletions of the short arm of chromosome 9, 9p, have been detected in cell lines of malignant mesothelioma as well as in tumor material. Many tumor types carry deletions of chromosome 9 or more specifically of 9p21. The tumor-suppressor genes, CDKN2A and CDKN2B, each of which encodes a structurally and functionally similar cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, were mapped to the commonly deleted region. The tumor-suppressive effect of these genes, or of CDKN2A alone, requires functional retinoblastoma protein, pRb. Malignant mesothelioma expresses pRb, which, together with the cytogenetic data, suggests the involvement of CDKN2A and/or CDKN2B in its tumorigenesis. We present data on the deletion status of chromosome 9 in malignant mesothelioma cell lines and tumor tissue. A deletion map of the 9p21.3-p23 region was constructed for 12 cell lines. Homozygous deletions of chromosomal regions containing CDKN2A were detected in all cell lines. The smallest region of overlap for deletion is approximately 24 kb, and does not include CDKN2B. The frequency of deletion of the centromeric region of chromosome 9 was compared with that of chromosomes 1, 6, and 10 by genomic in situ hybridization. Deletion of the centromere of chromosome 9 is the predominant event at a frequency of 73 +/- 3%. Our data show that deletions of a critical region of chromosome 9, including the CDKN2A but not the CDKN2B locus, are common among malignant mesothelioma. Such deletions may be involved in tumorigenesis of mesothelium.

Expression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in human malignant mesothelioma cell lines and relationship to platelet-derived growth factor A and insulin-like growth factor 2 expression.

Mutations in the WT1 tumor suppressor gene are known to contribute to the development of Wilms' tumor (WT) and associated gonadal abnormalities. WT1 is expressed principally in the fetal kidney, developing gonads, and spleen and also in the mesothelium, which lines the coelomic cavities. These tissues develop from mesenchymal components that have subsequently become epithelialized, and it has therefore been proposed that WT1 may play a role in this transition of cell types. To test the possible involvement of this gene in malignant mesothelioma, we have first studied its expression in a panel of human normal and malignant mesothelial cell lines. WT1 mRNA expression levels varied greatly between the cell lines and no specific chromosomal aberration on 11p, which could be related to the variation in WT1 expression in these cell lines, was observed. Furthermore, no gross deletions rearrangements, or functionally inactivating point mutations in the WT1 coding region were identified. All four WT1 splice variants were observed at similar levels in these cell lines. The WT1 gene encodes a zinc-finger transcription factor and the four protein isoforms are each believed to act as transcriptional repressors of certain growth factor genes. Lack of WTI expression in thus predicted to result in growth stimulation of tumor cells. Binding of one particular WT1 isoform construct to the insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) and platelet-derived growth factor A (PDGFA) gene promoters has been demonstrated to result in repression of these genes in transient transfection studies. Analysis of IGF2 and PDGFA mRNA expression levels compared with WTI mRNA expression levels failed to demonstrate an inverse correlation in the mesothelial cell lines, which endogenously express these genes. Finally, the putative role of WT1 in the transition of cell types was investigated. No obvious correlation between WT1 expression levels and cell morphology of the malignant mesothelial cell lines was evident from this study. Moreover, no change in WT1 expression was observed in normal mesothelial cells which were, by alteration of culture conditions, manipulated to switch from the mesenchymal to epithelial morphology.

Towards an understanding of Wilms' tumour.

Many areas of research are contributing to our understanding of WT and the role of WT1 in development of the renal and genitourinary systems. Characterization of putative target genes and the control of their expression continues. The importance of isoform ratios and imprinting effects are also under active investigation, often using animal models. The accumulating mutation data, together with evolutionary studies, illuminate WT1 structure-function relationships, highlighting the regions critical in normal development and tumorigenesis. And last, but by no means least, the hunt for the WT2 and WT3 genes continues.

Evidence that WT1 mutations in Denys-Drash syndrome patients may act in a dominant-negative fashion.

The triad of nephropathy, partial gonadal dysgenesis and Wilms' tumour (WT) is known as Denys-Drash syndrome (DDS). The WT predisposition gene WT1, which plays a vital role in both genital and renal development, is known to be mutated in DDS patients. The WT1 mutations in these patients are constitutional point mutations clustered in the zinc finger (ZF) encoding exons, particularly the exons encoding ZF2 and ZF3. The predicted functional alteration in WT1 is thought to underlie DDS aetiology either by abolishing binding of the WT1 ZF domain to its normal target DNA binding site(s), perhaps blocking the binding of the wild type WT1 present (dominant negative mutation), and/or by conferring the ability to recognise novel but inappropriate DNA binding sites (dominant mutation). We report here on the analysis of WT1 in a further five cases of DDS. In each case a constitutional point mutation was detected in either ZF2 or ZF3. Three of these mutations are novel, with two affecting the conserved histidine and cysteine residues crucial for ZF tertiary structure. The protein product of the third is predicted to lack ZF2, 3 and 4 as a result of a chain termination mutation, and is presumably incapable of binding DNA. However since the DDS phenotype is only elicited by mutations which lead to loss or alteration of ZF function (presumably DNA binding) while the N-terminal upstream portion of the gene remains intact, we suggest that a dominant negative mechanism is at work here.

Monoclonal antibodies to the NS protein of vesicular stomatitis virus inhibit initiation of transcripts in vitro and dissociate leader RNA from mRNA synthesis.

Three monoclonal antibodies directed against the NS protein of vesicular stomatitis virus inhibited homotypic in vitro transcription reactions. One antibody inhibited transcription only moderately while the other two antibodies inhibited total transcription by 90% or greater compared to control reactions. One antibody decreased the synthesis of all transcripts examined, the second antibody virtually abolished the synthesis of all transcripts, and the third antibody prevented mRNA synthesis but not leader RNA synthesis.