Loss of function of Slc20a2 associated with familial idiopathic Basal Ganglia calcification in humans causes brain calcifications in mice

Familial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (FIBGC) is a neurodegenerative disorder with neuropsychiatric and motor symptoms. Deleterious mutations in SLC20A2, encoding the type III sodium-dependent phosphate transporter 2 (PiT2), were recently linked to FIBGC in almost 50 % of the families reported worldwide. Here, we show that knockout of Slc20a2 in mice causes calcifications in the thalamus, basal ganglia, and cortex, demonstrating that reduced PiT2 expression alone can cause brain calcifications

Myogenic progenitors contribute to open but not closed fracture repair

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bone repair is dependent on the presence of osteocompetent progenitors that are able to differentiate and generate new bone. Muscle is found in close association with orthopaedic injury, however its capacity to make a cellular contribution to bone repair remains ambiguous. We hypothesized that myogenic cells of the MyoD-lineage are able to contribute to bone repair.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We employed a <it>MyoD</it>-Cre⁺:Z/AP⁺conditional reporter mouse in which all cells of the MyoD-lineage are permanently labeled with a <it>human alkaline phosphatase (hAP) </it>reporter. We tracked the contribution of MyoD-lineage cells in mouse models of tibial bone healing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the absence of musculoskeletal trauma, MyoD-expressing cells are limited to skeletal muscle and the presence of reporter-positive cells in non-muscle tissues is negligible. In a closed tibial fracture model, there was no significant contribution of hAP⁺cells to the healing callus. In contrast, open tibial fractures featuring periosteal stripping and muscle fenestration had up to 50% of hAP⁺cells detected in the open fracture callus. At early stages of repair, many hAP⁺cells exhibited a chondrocyte morphology, with lesser numbers of osteoblast-like hAP⁺cells present at the later stages. Serial sections stained for hAP and type II and type I collagen showed that MyoD-lineage cells were surrounded by cartilaginous or bony matrix, suggestive of a functional role in the repair process. To exclude the prospect that osteoprogenitors spontaneously express MyoD during bone repair, we created a metaphyseal drill hole defect in the tibia. No hAP⁺staining was observed in this model suggesting that the expression of MyoD is not a normal event for endogenous osteoprogenitors.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data document for the first time that muscle cells can play a significant secondary role in bone repair and this knowledge may lead to important translational applications in orthopaedic surgery.</p> <p>Please see related article: <url>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/9/136</url></p

Rapid Determination of Myosin Heavy Chain Expression in Rat, Mouse, and Human Skeletal Muscle Using Multicolor Immunofluorescence Analysis

Skeletal muscle is a heterogeneous tissue comprised of fibers with different morphological, functional, and metabolic properties. Different muscles contain varying proportions of fiber types; therefore, accurate identification is important. A number of histochemical methods are used to determine muscle fiber type; however, these techniques have several disadvantages. Immunofluorescence analysis is a sensitive method that allows for simultaneous evaluation of multiple MHC isoforms on a large number of fibers on a single cross-section, and offers a more precise means of identifying fiber types. In this investigation we characterized pure and hybrid fiber type distribution in 10 rat and 10 mouse skeletal muscles, as well as human vastus lateralis (VL) using multicolor immunofluorescence analysis. In addition, we determined fiber type-specific cross-sectional area (CSA), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity, and α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) activity. Using this procedure we were able to easily identify pure and hybrid fiber populations in rat, mouse, and human muscle. Hybrid fibers were identified in all species and made up a significant portion of the total population in some rat and mouse muscles. For example, rat mixed gastrocnemius (MG) contained 12.2% hybrid fibers whereas mouse white tibialis anterior (WTA) contained 12.1% hybrid fibers. Collectively, we outline a simple and time-efficient method for determining MHC expression in skeletal muscle of multiple species. In addition, we provide a useful resource of the pure and hybrid fiber type distribution, fiber CSA, and relative fiber type-specific SDH and GPD activity in a number of rat and mouse muscles

Beating heart muscle in a skeletal muscle bed.

Jockusch H, MEHRKE G, FUCHTBAUER EM. BEATING HEART-MUSCLE IN A SKELETAL-MUSCLE BED. EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY. 1983;81(3):749-755

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A.

A major challenge of the postgenomic era is the functional characterization of every single gene within the mammalian genome. In an effort to address this challenge, we assembled a collection of mutations in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, which is the largest publicly accessible collection of such mutations to date. Using four different gene-trap vectors, we generated 5,142 sequences adjacent to the gene-trap integration sites (gene-trap sequence tags; http://genetrap.de) from >11,000 ES cell clones. Although most of the gene-trap vector insertions occurred randomly throughout the genome, we found both vector-independent and vector-specific integration "hot spots." Because >50% of the hot spots were vector-specific, we conclude that the most effective way to saturate the mouse genome with gene-trap insertions is by using a combination of gene-trap vectors. When a random sample of gene-trap integrations was passaged to the germ line, 59% (17 of 29) produced an observable phenotype in transgenic mice, a frequency similar to that achieved by conventional gene targeting. Thus, gene trapping allows a large-scale and cost-effective production of ES cell clones with mutations distributed throughout the genome, a resource likely to accelerate genome annotation and the in vivo modeling of human disease