TCF20 dysfunction leads to cortical neurogenesis defects and autistic-like behaviors in mice

ABSTRACT: Recently, de novo mutations of transcription factor 20 (TCF20) were found in patients with autism by large-scale exome sequencing. However, how TCF20 modulates brain development and whether its dysfunction causes ASD remain unclear. Here, we show that TCF20 deficits impair neurogenesis in mouse. TCF20 deletion significantly reduces the number of neurons, which leads to abnormal brain functions. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis and ChIP-qPCR reveal that the DNA demethylation factor TDG is a downstream target gene of TCF20. As a nonspecific DNA demethylation factor, TDG potentially affects many genes. Combined TDG ChIP-seq and GO analysis of TCF20 RNA-Seq identifies T cell factor 4 (TCF-4) as a common target. TDG controls the DNA methylation level in the promoter area of TCF-4, affecting

SUBMITTER: Chao Feng 

PROVIDER: S-SCDT-EMBOR-2019-49239V1 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other