Project description:Purpose: Citron kinase (CitK) knockout mice show a severe form of primary microcephaly, associated with ataxia and lethal epilepsy. This phenotype is caused by massive apoptosis occuring during embryonic and post-natal brain development, associated with cytokinesis failure. Cerebellum is the tissue showing highest sensitivity to CitK loss. The clinical phenotype of CitK knockout mice is significantly resued by P53 inactivation. In addition, CitK/P53 double knockout brains have almost normal levels of apoptosis, but display high percentage of binucleated and multinucleated cells. The aim of this study was to analyze the gene expression changes produced in developing neural tissue by CitK loss and to determine which alterations are P53-dependent. expression changes Methods: We analyzed by RNA sequencing total RNA extracted from P4 cerebellum of mice characterized by the following genotypes: 1. CitK +/-, P53 +/- (CTRL); 2. CitK -/-, P53 +/- (CitK-KO); 3. CitK +/-, P53 -/- (P53-KO); 4. CitK -/-, P53 -/- (D-KO). Biological triplicates were analyzed per every genotype. Conclusions: The loss of CitK leads to a strong reduction of the expression of pro-neural genes and induces a P53-related pro-apoptotic gene sets. The analysis of D-KO mice reveals that most of these changes are P53-dependent, but many genes implicated in growth arrest are induced through P53-independent mechanisms.
Project description:Whole Exome Sequencing of cohorts of Mutant Braf mouse model melanoma DNA and germline DNA. The cohorts are (1) Mutant Braf mouse model melanomas, (2) Mutant Braf mouse model melanomas from UVR exposed mice and (3) Mutant Braf mouse model melanomas from UVR exposed, sunscreen protected mice.
Project description:Our lab generated the p53 K316P mouse, which mimicks a common amino acid change found in bats. The K316P mutation, found in the nuclear localization signal of p53, results in increased cytoplasmic localization of p53. We found that K316P mutant mice develop several metabolic phenotypes, including increased body fat percentage, and increased liver lipid levels. In order to determine the mechanism through which K316P mutation increases liver lipid levels, we performed metabolomic analysis of mouse livers from WT and K316P mutant mice. Mouse livers were isolated from four wild type (WT) and four p53 K316P (M) mice for lipidomic analysis. Samples were isolated and flash frozen in liquid nitrogen. Lipids were then extracted from each liver sample and analyzed using mass spectrometry.
Project description:Progesterone (P4) acting through its cognate receptor, the progesterone receptor (PR), plays an important role in uterine physiology. The PR knockout (PRKO) mouse has demonstrated the importance of the P4-PR axis in the regulation of uterine function. To define the molecular pathways regulated by P4-PR in the mouse uterus, Affymetrix MG U74Av2 oligonucleotide arrays were used to identify alterations in gene expression after acute and chronic P4 treatments. In the analysis, retinoic acid metabolic genes, cytochrome P 450 26a1 (Cyp26a1), alcohol dehydrogenase 5, and aldehyde dehydrogenase 1a1 (Aldh1a1); kallikrein genes, Klk5 and Klk6; and specific transcription factors, GATA-2 and Cited2 [cAMP-corticosterone-binding protein/p300-interacting transactivator with glutamic acid (E) and aspartic acid (D)-rich tail], were validated as regulated by the P4-PR axis. Identification and analysis of these responsive genes will help define the role of PR in regulating uterine biology. Ovariectomized wild-type and progesterone receptor knockout mice were injected with either vehicle or 1 mg/mouse progesterone. The injections were repeated every 12 h, and groups of mice were killed 4 h after the first injection (acute P4 treatment) or 4 h after the fourth injection (chronic P4 treatment).
Project description:This study describes time-course chromatin accessibility profiling of mouse ESC and embryonic bodies n Wdr5 and p53 knockout (with or without WT or mutant hWDR5 rescue)
Project description:Medulloblastomas (MBs) are the most common brain tumors in children. Some are thought to originate from cerebellar granule neuron progenitors (GNPs) that fail to undergo normal cell cycle exit and differentiation. Since microRNAs regulate numerous aspects of cellular physiology and development, we reasoned that alterations in miRNA expression might contribute to MB. We tested this hypothesis using two spontaneous mouse MB models with specific initiating mutations, Ink4c-/-; Ptch1+/- and Ink4c-/-; p53-/-. We found that 26 miRNAs showed increased expression and 24 miRNAs showed decreased expression in proliferating mouse GNPs and MBs relative to mature mouse cerebellum, regardless of genotype. Among the 26 overexpressed miRNAs, nine were encoded by the miR-17~92 cluster family, a group of microRNAs implicated as oncogenes in several tumor types. Analysis of human MBs demonstrated that three miR-17~92 cluster miRNAs (miR-92, miR-19a and miR-20) were also overexpressed in human MBs with a constitutively activated SHH signaling pathway, but not in other forms of the disease. To test whether the miR-17~92 cluster could promote MB formation, we enforced expression of these miRNAs in GNPs isolated from cerebella of postnatal (P) day P6 Ink4c-/-; Ptch1+/- mice. These, but not similarly engineered cells from Ink4c-/-; p53-/- mice, formed MBs in orthotopic transplants with complete penetrance. Interestingly, orthotopic mouse tumors ectopically expressing miR-17~92 lost expression of the wild-type Ptch1 allele. Our findings suggest a functional collaboration between the miR-17~92 cluster and the SHH signaling pathway in the development of MBs in mouse and man. Samples: purified CGNP-like mouse medulloblastoma cells; purified CGNPs from age day 6 (P6) mice; whole cerebellum from P6 mice; whole cerebellum from 1 month old mice. Each from three backgrounds (except tumors) - wt; Ptc+/-,Ink4c-/-; p53-/-,Ink4c-/-. Two to five biological replicates each.
Project description:Progesterone (P4) acting through its cognate receptor, the progesterone receptor (PR), plays an important role in uterine physiology. The PR knockout (PRKO) mouse has demonstrated the importance of the P4-PR axis in the regulation of uterine function. To define the molecular pathways regulated by P4-PR in the mouse uterus, Affymetrix MG U74Av2 oligonucleotide arrays were used to identify alterations in gene expression after acute and chronic P4 treatments. In the analysis, retinoic acid metabolic genes, cytochrome P 450 26a1 (Cyp26a1), alcohol dehydrogenase 5, and aldehyde dehydrogenase 1a1 (Aldh1a1); kallikrein genes, Klk5 and Klk6; and specific transcription factors, GATA-2 and Cited2 [cAMP-corticosterone-binding protein/p300-interacting transactivator with glutamic acid (E) and aspartic acid (D)-rich tail], were validated as regulated by the P4-PR axis. Identification and analysis of these responsive genes will help define the role of PR in regulating uterine biology.
Project description:To investigate the role of p53 and DICER in the induction of ER stress, wildtype, p53 knockout or DICER mutant HCT116 colon cancer cells were treated with the ER stress inducers tunicamycin or brefeldin A for 24 hours. Microarray analysis was used to determine changes in gene expression associated with the induction of ER stress, and to compare this induction in wildtype, p53 knockout or DICER mutant HCT116 colon cancer cells
Project description:Loss of the p53-inducible LINC01021 in p53-proficient CRC cell lines results in increased sensitivity to DNA-damaging chemotherapeutics. Here, we comprehensively analyzed how LINC01021 affects the p53-induced transcriptional program. Using a CRISPR/Cas9-approach we deleted the p53 binding site in the LINC01021 promoter of SW480 colorectal cancer cells and subjected them to RNA-Seq analysis after activation of ectopic p53. RNA affinity purification followed by mass spectrometry was used identify proteins associated with LINC01021.
Project description:Fragile X syndrome and tuberous sclerosis are genetic syndromes that both have a high rate of co-morbidity with autism spectrum disorders. Several lines of evidences suggest that these two monogenic disorders may converge at a molecular level through the dysfunction of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. We utilized mouse models of these monogenic disorders to identify genome-wide transcriptional changes in cerebellum and blood and characterize the (dis-)similarity of their molecular signatures. Differentially expressed genes and enriched pathways were distinct for the two mouse models examined, with the exception of immune system related pathways. In the cerebellum of the Fmr1 knockout (Fmr1-KO) model, the neuroactive ligand receptor interaction pathway and gene sets associated with synaptic plasticity such as long term potentiation, gap junction, and axon guidance were the most significantly perturbed pathways. The phosphatidylinositol signaling pathway was significantly dysregulated in both blood and brain of Fmr1-KO mice. In both the blood and brain of the Tsc2 heterozygous mouse model, immune system related pathways, genes encoding ribosomal proteins, and glycolipid metabolism pathways were significantly perturbed. Our data suggest that distinct molecular pathways may be involved in autism spectrum disorders with known but different genetic causes, and that blood gene expression profiles of Fmr1-knockout and Tsc2+/- mice mirror some, but not all, of the perturbed molecular pathways in the brain. For the Fmr1-KO model, 10 mice, consisting of 5 KO and 5 WT mice, were profiled. Thus, 10 pairs of blood and cerebella samples were profiled. Likewise, for the Tsc+/- model, 3 transgenic and 3 WT mice were sacrificed and paired blood and cerebella samples were prepared for gene expression profiling. All samples were profiled using the Affymetrix Mouse Gene ST 1.0 ST arrays. Three factors—tissue (i.e. blood vs. cerebellum), treatment (i.e. knockout vs. wildtype), and genetic background (Fmr1-KO vs. Tsc2+/-)—were analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA). Subsequently, we compared blood and brain gene expression changes in Fmr1 and Tsc2 knockout mice models using WT littermates as controls using t-tests with unequal variances. The false discovery rate (FDR) was calculated using Storey and Tibshirani’s method.