The boygirl (byg) mouse mutant reveals that MAP3K4-mediated signaling is necessary for normal SRY expression and testis specification in the developing mouse gonad.

SummaryWe identified a dominant missense mutation in the SCN transcription factor Zfhx3, termed short circuit (Zfhx3Sci), which accelerates circadian locomotor rhythms in mice. ZFHX3 regulates transcription via direct interaction with predicted AT motifs in target genes. The mutant protein has a decreased ability to activate consensus AT motifs in vitro. Using RNA sequencing, we found minimal effects on core clock genes in Zfhx3Sci/+ SCN, whereas the expression of neuropeptides critical for SCN intercellular signaling was significantly disturbed. Moreover, mutant ZFHX3 had a decreased ability to activate AT motifs in the promoters of these neuropeptide genes. Lentiviral transduction of SCN slices showed that the ZFHX3-mediated activation of AT motifs is circadian, with decreased amplitude and robustness of these oscillations in Zfhx3Sci/+ SCN slices. In conclusion, by cloning Zfhx3Sci, we have uncovered a circadian transcriptional axis that determines the period and robustness of behavioral and SCN molecular rhythms.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a leading cause of heart failure. In families with autosomal-dominant DCM, heterozygous missense mutations were identified in RNA-binding motif protein 20 (RBM20), a spliceosome protein induced during early cardiogenesis. Dermal fibroblasts from two unrelated patients harboring an RBM20 R636S missense mutation were reprogrammed to human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and differentiated to beating cardiomyocytes (CMs). Stage-specific transcriptome profiling identified differentially expressed genes ranging from angiogenesis regulator to embryonic heart transcription factor as initial molecular aberrations. Furthermore, gene expression analysis for RBM20-dependent splice variants affected sarcomeric (TTN and LDB3) and calcium (Ca(2+)) handling (CAMK2D and CACNA1C) genes. Indeed, RBM20 hiPSC-CMs exhibited increased sarcomeric length (RBM20: 1.747 ± 0.238 µm versus control: 1.404 ± 0.194 µm; P < 0.0001) and decreased sarcomeric width (RBM20: 0.791 ± 0.609 µm versus control: 0.943 ± 0.166 µm; P < 0.0001). Additionally, CMs showed defective Ca(2+) handling machinery with prolonged Ca(2+) levels in the cytoplasm as measured by greater area under the curve (RBM20: 814.718 ± 94.343 AU versus control: 206.941 ± 22.417 AU; P < 0.05) and higher Ca(2+) spike amplitude (RBM20: 35.281 ± 4.060 AU versus control:18.484 ± 1.518 AU; P < 0.05). β-adrenergic stress induced with 10 µm norepinephrine demonstrated increased susceptibility to sarcomeric disorganization (RBM20: 86 ± 10.5% versus control: 40 ± 7%; P < 0.001). This study features the first hiPSC model of RBM20 familial DCM. By monitoring human cardiac disease according to stage-specific cardiogenesis, this study demonstrates RBM20 familial DCM is a developmental disorder initiated by molecular defects that pattern maladaptive cellular mechanisms of pathological cardiac remodeling. Indeed, hiPSC-CMs recapitulate RBM20 familial DCM phenotype in a dish and establish a tool to dissect disease-relevant defects in RBM20 splicing as a global regulator of heart function.

The imprinted Gnas cluster is involved in obesity, energy metabolism, feeding behavior, and viability. Relative contribution of paternally expressed proteins XL␣s, XLN1, and ALEX or a double dose of maternally expressed Gs␣ to phenotype has not been established. In this study, we have generated two new mutants (Ex1A-T-CON and Ex1A-T) at the Gnas cluster. Paternal inheritance of Ex1A-T-CON leads to loss of imprinting of Gs␣, resulting in preweaning growth retardation followed by catch-up growth. Paternal inheritance of Ex1A-T leads to loss of imprinting of Gs␣ and loss of expression of XL␣s and XLN1. These mice have severe preweaning growth retardation and incomplete catch-up growth. They are fully viable probably because suckling is unimpaired, unlike mutants in which the expression of all the known paternally expressed Gnasxl proteins (XL␣s, XLN1 and ALEX) is compromised. We suggest that loss of ALEX is most likely responsible for the suckling defects previously observed. In adults, paternal inheritance of Ex1A-T results in an increased metabolic rate and reductions in fat mass, leptin, and bone mineral density attributable to loss of XL␣s. This is, to our knowledge, the first report describing a role for XL␣s in bone metabolism. We propose that XL␣s is involved in the regulation of bone and adipocyte metabolism.