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Aberrant Wnt signalling and cellular over-proliferation in a novel mouse model of Meckel-Gruber syndrome

Aberrant Wnt signalling and cellular over-proliferation in a novel mouse model of Meckel-Gruber syndrome
Aberrant Wnt signalling and cellular over-proliferation in a novel mouse model of Meckel-Gruber syndrome
Meckel-Gruber syndrome (MKS) is an embryonic lethal ciliopathy resulting from mutations in genes encoding proteins localising to the primary cilium. Mutations in the basal body protein MKS1 account for 7% of cases of MKS. The condition affects the development of multiple organs, including brain, kidney and skeleton. Here we present a novel Mks1(tm1a(EUCOMM)Wtsi) knockout mouse which accurately recapitulates the human condition, consistently developing pre-axial polydactyly, complex posterior fossa defects (including the Dandy-Walker malformation), and renal cystic dysplasia. TOPFlash Wnt reporter assays in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) showed general de-regulated high levels of canonical Wnt/β-catenin signalling in Mks1(-/-) cells. In addition to these signalling defects, we also observed ectopic high proliferation in the brain and kidney of mutant animals at mid- to late-gestation. The specific role of Mks1 in regulating cell proliferation was confirmed in Mks1 siRNA knockdown experiments which showed increased levels of proliferation after knockdown, an effect not seen after knockdown of other ciliopathy genes. We suggest that this is a result of the de-regulation of multiple signalling pathways (Wnt, mTOR and Hh) in the absence of functional Mks1. This novel model system offers insights into the role of MKS1 in Wnt signalling and proliferation, and the impact of deregulation of these processes on brain and kidney development in MKS, as well as expanding our understanding of the role of Mks1 in multiple signalling pathways.
0012-1606
55-66
Wheway, Gabrielle
2e547e5d-b921-4243-a071-2208fd4cc090
Abdelhamed, Zakia
b4ff1341-981a-4c9b-8e4a-f7ae4e5d7c9d
Natarajan, Subaashini
0eb6b648-d7c9-4589-ab2c-a317e402f959
Toomes, Carmel
d956aaa4-457f-4cd5-951b-7b9449b83309
Inglehearn, Chris F.
83e4579c-b071-40c5-b220-5ca9d591e86b
Johnson, Colin A.
eeba2797-8db7-444c-a430-41bca8d46742
Wheway, Gabrielle
2e547e5d-b921-4243-a071-2208fd4cc090
Abdelhamed, Zakia
b4ff1341-981a-4c9b-8e4a-f7ae4e5d7c9d
Natarajan, Subaashini
0eb6b648-d7c9-4589-ab2c-a317e402f959
Toomes, Carmel
d956aaa4-457f-4cd5-951b-7b9449b83309
Inglehearn, Chris F.
83e4579c-b071-40c5-b220-5ca9d591e86b
Johnson, Colin A.
eeba2797-8db7-444c-a430-41bca8d46742

Wheway, Gabrielle, Abdelhamed, Zakia, Natarajan, Subaashini, Toomes, Carmel, Inglehearn, Chris F. and Johnson, Colin A. (2013) Aberrant Wnt signalling and cellular over-proliferation in a novel mouse model of Meckel-Gruber syndrome. Developmental Biology, 377 (1), 55-66. (doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2013.02.015).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Meckel-Gruber syndrome (MKS) is an embryonic lethal ciliopathy resulting from mutations in genes encoding proteins localising to the primary cilium. Mutations in the basal body protein MKS1 account for 7% of cases of MKS. The condition affects the development of multiple organs, including brain, kidney and skeleton. Here we present a novel Mks1(tm1a(EUCOMM)Wtsi) knockout mouse which accurately recapitulates the human condition, consistently developing pre-axial polydactyly, complex posterior fossa defects (including the Dandy-Walker malformation), and renal cystic dysplasia. TOPFlash Wnt reporter assays in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) showed general de-regulated high levels of canonical Wnt/β-catenin signalling in Mks1(-/-) cells. In addition to these signalling defects, we also observed ectopic high proliferation in the brain and kidney of mutant animals at mid- to late-gestation. The specific role of Mks1 in regulating cell proliferation was confirmed in Mks1 siRNA knockdown experiments which showed increased levels of proliferation after knockdown, an effect not seen after knockdown of other ciliopathy genes. We suggest that this is a result of the de-regulation of multiple signalling pathways (Wnt, mTOR and Hh) in the absence of functional Mks1. This novel model system offers insights into the role of MKS1 in Wnt signalling and proliferation, and the impact of deregulation of these processes on brain and kidney development in MKS, as well as expanding our understanding of the role of Mks1 in multiple signalling pathways.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 13 February 2013
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 February 2013
Published date: 1 May 2013

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 423519
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/423519
ISSN: 0012-1606
PURE UUID: 4893d216-f891-4c9f-9c15-c04be134b8ad
ORCID for Gabrielle Wheway: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0494-0783

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Date deposited: 25 Sep 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:38

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Contributors

Author: Zakia Abdelhamed
Author: Subaashini Natarajan
Author: Carmel Toomes
Author: Chris F. Inglehearn
Author: Colin A. Johnson

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