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Wang Z, Qiao D, Chen H, Zhang S, Zhang B, Zhang J, Hu X, Wang C, Cui H, Wang X, Li S. Effects of Fmr1 Gene Mutations on Sex Differences in Autism-Like Behavior and Dendritic Spine Development in Mice and Transcriptomic Studies. Neuroscience 2023; 534:16-28. [PMID: 37852411 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2023] [Revised: 10/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common single gene disorder contributing to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although significant sex differences are observed in FXS, few studies have focused on the phenotypic characteristics as well as the differences in brain pathological changes and gene expression in FXS by sex. Therefore, we analyzed sex differences in autism-like behavior and dendritic spine development in two-month-old male and female Fmr1 KO and C57 mice and evaluated the mechanisms at transcriptome level. Results suggest that Fmr1 KO mice display sex differences in autism-like behavior and dendritic spine density. Compared to females, male had more severe effects on anxiety, repetitive stereotype-like behaviors, and socializing, with higher dendritic spine density. Furthermore, two male-biased and five female-biased expressed genes were screened based on KEGG pathway enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses. In conclusion, our findings show mutations in the Fmr1 gene lead to aberrant expression of related genes and affect the sex-differentiated behavioral phenotypes of Fmr1 KO mice by affecting brain development and functional architecture, and suggest future studies should focus on including female subjects to comprehensively reflect the differentiation of FXS in both sexes and develop more precise and effective therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhao Wang
- Department of Anatomy, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Dan Qiao
- Department of Anatomy, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Huan Chen
- Department of Anatomy, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China; Neuroscience Research Center, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease Mechanism, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Shihua Zhang
- Grade 2018, Basic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Bohan Zhang
- Department of Anatomy, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Jingbao Zhang
- Grade 2020, Basic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Xiangting Hu
- Grade 2020, Basic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Chang Wang
- Department of Anatomy, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China; Neuroscience Research Center, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease Mechanism, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Huixian Cui
- Department of Anatomy, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China; Neuroscience Research Center, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease Mechanism, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Xia Wang
- Child Health (Psychological Behavior) Department, Children's Hospital of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang, China.
| | - Sha Li
- Department of Anatomy, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China; Neuroscience Research Center, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease Mechanism, Shijiazhuang, China; The Key Laboratory of Neural and Vascular Biology, Ministry of Education, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
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Hollenhorst MI, Husnik T, Zylka M, Duda N, Flockerzi V, Tschernig T, Maxeiner S, Krasteva-Christ G. Human airway tuft cells influence the mucociliary clearance through cholinergic signalling. Respir Res 2023; 24:267. [PMID: 37925434 PMCID: PMC10625704 DOI: 10.1186/s12931-023-02570-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Airway tuft cells, formerly called brush cells have long been described only morphologically in human airways. More recent RNAseq studies described a chemosensory cell population, which includes tuft cells, by a distinct gene transcription signature. Yet, until which level in the tracheobronchial tree in native human airway epithelium tuft cells occur and if they function as regulators of innate immunity, e.g., by regulating mucociliary clearance, remained largely elusive. METHODS We performed immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and immunoblotting analyses for various tuft cell markers to confirm the presence of this cell type in human tracheal samples. Immunohistochemistry was conducted to study the distribution of tuft cells along the intrapulmonary airways in humans. We assessed the influence of bitter substances and the taste transduction pathway on mucociliary clearance in mouse and human tracheal samples by measuring particle transport speed. RESULTS Tuft cells identified by the expression of their well-established marker POU class 2 homeobox 3 (POU2F3) were present from the trachea to the bronchioles. We identified choline acetyltransferase in POU2F3 expressing cells as well as the transient receptor potential melastatin 5 (TRPM5) channel in a small population of tracheal epithelial cells with morphological appearance of tuft cells. Application of bitter substances, such as denatonium, led to an increase in mucociliary clearance in human tracheal preparations. This was dependent on activation of the TRPM5 channel and involved cholinergic and nitric oxide signalling, indicating a functional role for human tuft cells in the regulation of mucociliary clearance. CONCLUSIONS We were able to detect tuft cells in the tracheobronchial tree down to the level of the bronchioles. Moreover, taste transduction and cholinergic signalling occur in the same cells and regulate mucociliary clearance. Thus, tuft cells are potentially involved in the regulation of innate immunity in human airways.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Thomas Husnik
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Malin Zylka
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Nele Duda
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Veit Flockerzi
- Institute for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Preclinical Center for Molecular Signaling, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Tschernig
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Stephan Maxeiner
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
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Maxeiner S, Krasteva-Christ G, Althaus M. Pitfalls of using sequence databases for heterologous expression studies - a technical review. J Physiol 2023; 601:1611-1623. [PMID: 36762618 DOI: 10.1113/jp284066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Synthesis of DNA fragments based on gene sequences that are available in public resources has become an efficient and affordable method that has gradually replaced traditional cloning efforts such as PCR cloning from cDNA. However, database entries based on genome sequencing results are prone to errors which can lead to false sequence information and, ultimately, errors in functional characterisation of proteins such as ion channels and transporters in heterologous expression systems. We have identified five common problems that repeatedly appear in public resources: (1) Not every gene has yet been annotated; (2) not all gene annotations are necessarily correct; (3) transcripts may contain automated corrections; (4) there are mismatches between gene, mRNA and protein sequences; and (5) splicing patterns often lack experimental validation. This technical review highlights and provides a strategy to bypass these issues in order to avoid critical mistakes that could impact future studies of any gene/protein of interest in heterologous expression systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Maxeiner
- Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | | | - Mike Althaus
- Department of Natural Sciences, Institute for Functional Gene Analytics, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Rheinbach, Germany
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Maxeiner S, Benseler F, Brose N, Krasteva-Christ G. Of Humans and Gerbils— Independent Diversification of Neuroligin-4 Into X- and Y-Specific Genes in Primates and Rodents. Front Mol Neurosci 2022; 15:838262. [PMID: 35431802 PMCID: PMC9005811 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.838262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural cell adhesion protein neuroligin-4 has puzzled neuroscientists and geneticist alike for almost two decades. Its clinical association with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is well established, however, its diversification into sex chromosome-specific copies, NLGN4X and NLGN4Y, remains uncharted territory. Just recently, the presence of substantial neuroligin-4 sequence differences between humans and laboratory mice, in which Nlgn4 is a pseudoautosomal gene, could be explained as a consequence of dramatic changes affecting the pseudoautosomal region on both sex chromosomes in a subset of rodents, the clade eumuroida. In this study, we describe the presence of sex chromosome-specific copies of neuroligin-4 genes in the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) marking the first encounter of its kind in rodents. Gerbils are members of the family Muridae and are closely related to mice and rats. Our results have been incorporated into an extended evolutionary analysis covering primates, rodents, lagomorphs, treeshrews and culogos comprising together the mammalian superorder euarchontoglires. We gathered evidence that substantial changes in neuroligin-4 genes have also occurred outside eumuroida in other rodent species as well as in lagomorphs. These changes feature, e.g., a general reduction of its gene size, an increase in its average GC-content as well as in the third position (GC3) of synonymous codons, and the accumulation of repetitive sequences in line with previous observations. We further show conclusively that the diversification of neuroligin-4 in sex chromosome-specific copies has happened multiple times independently during mammal evolution proving that Y-chromosomal NLGN4Y genes do not originate from a single common NLGN4Y ancestor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Maxeiner
- Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Stephan Maxeiner,
| | - Fritz Benseler
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Nils Brose
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen, Germany
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Garafutdinov RR, Sakhabutdinova AR, Aminev FG, Chemeris AV. [New polymorphic DNA marker to determine a person's sex from biological material]. Sud Med Ekspert 2022; 65:36-40. [PMID: 35947408 DOI: 10.17116/sudmed20226504136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The objective of the study was to pre-evaluate the applicability of gender-specific nucleotide sequences in human neuroligin genes as alternative DNA markers of sex. A new polymorphic locus based on NLGNX and NLGNY genes was proposed to establish the sex attribute of human biomaterials. The significant difference in the location of these loci relative to the pseudoautosomal region (PAR), as well as the combination of different types of polymorphism on the one hand, and the possibility of using gender-specific primers «in one assay» on the other hand, warrants their use as an additional marker of human sex attribute, including utilization as part of systems for DNA registration in the population. The introduction of a new polymorphic locus based on the NLGNX and NLGNY genes will make it possible to reliably identify the sex attribute of biological material recovered from crime scenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- R R Garafutdinov
- Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia
| | - A R Sakhabutdinova
- Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia
| | - F G Aminev
- Institute of law, Bashkir State University, Ufa, Russia
| | - A V Chemeris
- Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia
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Of mice and men - and guinea pigs? Ann Anat 2021; 238:151765. [PMID: 34000371 DOI: 10.1016/j.aanat.2021.151765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the first draft of the human genome and its broad availability to the scientific community. In parallel, the annotation of the mouse genome led to the identification and analysis of countless genes by means of genetic manipulation. Today, when comparing both genomes, it might surprise that some genes are still seeking their respective homologs in either species. In this review, we aim at raising awareness for the remarkable differences between the researcher's favorite rodents, i.e., mice and rats, when it comes to the generation of rodent research models regarding genes with a particular delicate localization, namely the pseudoautosomal region on both sex chromosomes. Many of these genes are of utmost clinical relevance in humans and still miss a rodent disease model giving their absence in mice and rats or low sequence similarity compared to humans. The abundance of rodents within mammals prompted us to investigate different branches of rodents leading us to the re-discovery of the guinea pig as a mammalian research model for a distinct group of genes.
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