Systematized reporter assays reveal ZIC protein regulatory abilities are Subclass-specific and dependent upon transcription factor binding site context

The ZIC proteins are a family of transcription regulators with a well-defined zinc finger DNA-binding domain and there is evidence that they elicit functional DNA binding at a ZIC DNA binding site. Little is known, however, regarding domains within ZIC proteins that confer trans-activation or -repression. To address this question, a new cell-based trans-activation assay system suitable for ZIC proteins in HEK293T cells was constructed. This identified two previously unannotated evolutionarily conserved regions of ZIC3 that are necessary for trans-activation. These domains are found in all Subclass A ZIC proteins, but not in the Subclass B proteins. Additionally, the Subclass B proteins fail to elicit functional binding at a multimerised ZIC DNA binding site. All ZIC proteins, however, exhibit functional binding when the ZIC DNA binding site is embedded in a multiple transcription factor locus derived from ZIC target genes in the mouse genome. This ability is due to several domains, some of which are found in all ZIC proteins, that exhibit context dependent trans-activation or -repression activity. This knowledge is valuable for assessing the likely pathogenicity of variant ZIC proteins associated with human disorders and for determining factors that influence functional transcription factor binding

Role of the Transcription Factor Sox4 in Insulin Secretion and Impaired Glucose Tolerance

OBJECTIVES— To identify, map, clone, and functionally validate a novel mouse model for impaired glucose tolerance and insulin secretion

Genome-Wide ENU Mutagenesis in Combination with High Density SNP Analysis and Exome Sequencing Provides Rapid Identification of Novel Mouse Models of Developmental Disease

BACKGROUND Mice harbouring gene mutations that cause phenotypic abnormalities during organogenesis are invaluable tools for linking gene function to normal development and human disorders. To generate mouse models harbouring novel alleles that are involved in organogenesis we conducted a phenotype-driven, genome-wide mutagenesis screen in mice using the mutagen N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS ENU was injected into male C57BL/6 mice and the mutations transmitted through the germ-line. ENU-induced mutations were bred to homozygosity and G3 embryos screened at embryonic day (E) 13.5 and E18.5 for abnormalities in limb and craniofacial structures, skin, blood, vasculature, lungs, gut, kidneys, ureters and gonads. From 52 pedigrees screened 15 were detected with anomalies in one or more of the structures/organs screened. Using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based linkage analysis in conjunction with candidate gene or next-generation sequencing (NGS) we identified novel recessive alleles for Fras1, Ift140 and Lig1. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE In this study we have generated mouse models in which the anomalies closely mimic those seen in human disorders. The association between novel mutant alleles and phenotypes will lead to a better understanding of gene function in normal development and establish how their dysfunction causes human anomalies and disease.This work was enabled by the Australian Phenomics Network and partly supported by funding from the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, a Strategic Grant from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University, and the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program. IS acknowledges support through the NH&MRC R. Douglas Wright and ARC Future Fellowship schemes. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Regeneration of Hair Follicles Is Modulated by Flightless I (Flii) in a Rodent Vibrissa Model

Regeneration of cells, tissues, and organs has long captured the attention of researchers for its obvious potential benefits in biomedical applications. Although mammals are notoriously poor at regeneration compared with many lower-order species, the hair follicle, paradoxically a defining characteristic of mammals, is capable of regeneration following partial amputation. To investigate the role of a negative regulator of wound healing, flightless I (Flii), on hair follicle regeneration, the bulbar region of vibrissae from rats as well as strains of mice expressing low (Flii+/-), normal (Flii+/+), and high (FLIITg/Tg) levels of Flii were surgically amputated, and then allowed to regenerate in vivo. Macroscopic and histological assessment of the regeneration process revealed impaired or delayed regenerative potential in Flii / follicles. Regenerated follicles expressing high levels of Flii (FLIITg/Tg) produced significantly longer terminal hair fibers. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to characterize the pattern of expression of Flii, as well as markers of hair follicle development and wound healing-associated factors during hair follicle regeneration. These studies confirmed that Flii appears to have a positive role in the regeneration of hair follicles, contrary to its negative influence on wound healing in skin

SUMOylation Potentiates ZIC Protein Activity to Influence Murine Neural Crest Cell Specification

The mechanisms of neural crest cell induction and specification are highly conserved among vertebrate model organisms, but how similar these mechanisms are in mammalian neural crest cell formation remains open to question. The zinc finger of the cerebellum 1 (ZIC1) transcription factor is considered a core component of the vertebrate gene regulatory network that specifies neural crest fate at the neural plate border. In mouse embryos, however, Zic1 mutation does not cause neural crest defects. Instead, we and others have shown that murine Zic2 and Zic5 mutate to give a neural crest phenotype. Here, we extend this knowledge by demonstrating that murine Zic3 is also required for, and co-operates with, Zic2 and Zic5 during mammalian neural crest specification. At the murine neural plate border (a region of high canonical WNT activity) ZIC2, ZIC3, and ZIC5 function as transcription factors to jointly activate the Foxd3 specifier gene. This function is promoted by SUMOylation of the ZIC proteins at a conserved lysine immediately N-terminal of the ZIC zinc finger domain. In contrast, in the lateral regions of the neurectoderm (a region of low canonical WNT activity) basal ZIC proteins act as co-repressors of WNT/TCF-mediated transcription. Our work provides a mechanism by which mammalian neural crest specification is restricted to the neural plate border. Furthermore, given that WNT signaling and SUMOylation are also features of non-mammalian neural crest specification, it suggests that mammalian neural crest induction shares broad conservation, but altered molecular detail, with chicken, zebrafish, and Xenopus neural crest induction

High resolution melt analysis (HRMA); a viable alternative to agarose gel electrophoresis for mouse genotyping.

Most mouse genetics laboratories maintain mouse strains that require genotyping in order to identify the genetically modified animals. The plethora of mutagenesis strategies and publicly available mouse alleles means that any one laboratory may maintain alleles with random or targeted insertions of orthologous or unrelated sequences as well as random or targeted deletions and point mutants. Many experiments require that different strains be cross bred conferring the need to genotype progeny at more than one locus. In contrast to the range of new technologies for mouse mutagenesis, genotyping methods have remained relatively static with alleles typically discriminated by agarose gel electrophoresis of PCR products. This requires a large amount of researcher time. Additionally it is susceptible to contamination of future genotyping experiments because it requires that tubes containing PCR products be opened for analysis. Progress has been made with the genotyping of mouse point mutants because a range of new high-throughput techniques have been developed for the detection of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms. Some of these techniques are suitable for genotyping point mutants but do not detect insertion or deletion alleles. Ideally, mouse genetics laboratories would use a single, high-throughput platform that enables closed-tube analysis to genotype the entire range of possible insertion and deletion alleles and point mutants. Here we show that High Resolution Melt Analysis meets these criteria, it is suitable for closed-tube genotyping of all allele types and current genotyping assays can be converted to this technology with little or no effort

Fibroblast-specific upregulation of Flightless I impairs wound healing

The cytoskeletal protein Flightless (Flii) is a negative regulator of wound healing. Upregulation of Flii is associated with impaired migration, proliferation and adhesion of both fibroblasts and keratinocytes. Importantly, Flii translocates from the cytoplasm to the nucleus in response to wounding in fibroblasts but not keratinocytes. This cell-specific nuclear translocation of Flii suggests that Flii may directly regulate gene expression in fibroblasts, providing one potential mechanism of action for Flii in the wound healing response. To determine whether the tissue-specific upregulation of Flii in fibroblasts was important for the observed inhibitory effects of Flii on wound healing, an inducible fibroblast-specific Flii overexpressing mouse model was generated. The inducible ROSA26 system allowed the overexpression of Flii in a temporal and tissue-specific manner in response to tamoxifen treatment. Wound healing in the inducible mice was impaired, with wounds at day 7 postwounding significantly larger than those from non-inducible controls. There was also reduced collagen maturation, increased myofibroblast infiltration and elevated inflammation. The impaired healing response was similar in magnitude to that observed in mice with non-tissue-specific upregulation of Flii suggesting that fibroblast-derived Flii may have an important role in the wound healing response