A MYT1L syndrome mouse model recapitulates patient phenotypes and reveals altered brain development due to disrupted neuronal maturation.

ABSTRACT: Human genetics have defined a new neurodevelopmental syndrome caused by loss-of-function mutations in MYT1L, a transcription factor known for enabling fibroblast-to-neuron conversions. However, how MYT1L mutation causes intellectual disability, autism, ADHD, obesity, and brain anomalies is unknown. Here, we developed a Myt1l haploinsufficient mouse model that develops obesity, white-matter thinning, and microcephaly, mimicking common clinical phenotypes. During brain development we discovered disrupted gene expression, mediated in part by loss of Myt1l gene-target activation, and identified precocious neuronal differentiation as the mechanism for microcephaly. In contrast, in adults we discovered that mutation results in failure of transcriptional and chromatin maturation, echoed in disrup

SUBMITTER: Chen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8668036 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature