Rac signaling impacts a relatively large number of downstream targets; however, few studies have established an association between Rac pathways and pathological conditions. In the present study, we ...generated mice with double knockout of
and
(
) in cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs). We observed impaired tangential migration at E16.5, as well as numerous apoptotic CGNs at the deepest layer of the external granule layer (EGL) in the medial cerebellum of
mice at P8.
CGNs differentiated normally until expression of p27
and NeuN in the deep EGL at P5. Primary CGNs and cerebellar microexplants from
mice exhibited impaired neuritogenesis, which was more apparent in Map2-positive dendrites. Such findings suggest that impaired tangential migration and final differentiation of CGNs have resulted in decreased cerebellum size and agenesis of the medial internal granule layer, respectively. Furthermore, Rac depleted/deleted cells exhibited decreased levels of Mid1 and impaired mTORC1 signaling.
depletion in CGNs produced mild impairments in neuritogenesis and reductions in mTORC1 signaling. Thus, a novel Rac-signaling pathway (Rac1-Mid1-mTORC1) may be involved in medial cerebellar development.
The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) represents a promising nonhuman primate model for the study of human diseases because of its small size, ease of handling, and availability of gene‐modified ...animals. Here, we aimed to devise reproductive technology for marmoset spermatid injection using immature males for a possible rapid generational turnover. Spermatids at each step could be identified easily by their morphology under differential interference microscopy: thus, early round spermatids had a round nucleus with a few nucleolus‐like structures and abundant cytoplasm, as in other mammals. The spermatids acquired oocyte‐activating capacity at the late round spermatid stage, as confirmed by the resumption of meiosis and Ca2+ oscillations upon injection into mouse oocytes. The spermatids could be cryopreserved efficiently with a simple medium containing glycerol and CELL BANKER®. Late round or elongated spermatids first appeared at 10–12 months of age, 6–8 months before sexual maturation. Marmoset oocytes microinjected with frozen–thawed late round or elongated spermatids retrieved from a 12‐month‐old male marmoset developed to the 8‐cell stage without the need for artificial oocyte activation stimulation. Thus, it might be possible to shorten the intergeneration time by spermatid injection, from 2 years (by natural mating) to 13–15 months including gestation.
Insulin promotes glucose uptake in skeletal muscle by inducing the translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT4 to the plasma membrane. The serine/threonine kinase Akt2 has been implicated as a key ...regulator of this insulin action. However, the mechanisms whereby Akt2 regulates multiple steps of GLUT4 translocation remain incompletely understood. Recently, the small GTPase Rac1 has been identified as a skeletal muscle‐specific regulator of insulin‐stimulated glucose uptake. Here, we show that Rac1 is a critical downstream component of the Akt2 pathway in mouse skeletal muscle as well as cultured myocytes. GLUT4 translocation induced by constitutively activated Akt2 was totally dependent on the expression of Rac1 in L6 myocytes. Moreover, we observed the activation of Rac1 when constitutively activated Akt2 was ectopically expressed. Constitutively activated Akt2‐triggered Rac1 activation was diminished by knockdown of FLJ00068, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Rac1. Knockdown of Akt2, on the other hand, markedly reduced Rac1 activation by a constitutively activated mutant of phosphoinositide 3–kinase. In mouse skeletal muscle, constitutively activated mutants of Akt2 and phosphoinositide 3‐kinase, when ectopically expressed, induced GLUT4 translocation. Muscle‐specific rac1 knockout markedly diminished Akt2‐ or phosphoinositide 3‐kinase‐induced GLUT4 translocation, highlighting a crucial role of Rac1 downstream of Akt2. Taken together, these results strongly suggest a novel regulatory link between Akt2 and Rac1 in insulin‐dependent signal transduction leading to glucose uptake in skeletal muscle.
We show that Rac1 plays a critical role downstream of Akt2 in insulin‐dependent glucose uptake signaling in skeletal muscle. A signaling cascade composed of phosphoinositide 3‐kinase, Akt2, and Rac1 for GLUT4 translocation was demonstrated in cultured myocytes. Furthermore, constitutively activated Akt2 and phosphoinositide 3‐kinase induced GLUT4 translocation to the sarcolemma in wild‐type, but not rac1 knockout, mouse skeletal muscle.
The number of synaptic AMPA receptors (AMPARs) is the major determinant of synaptic strength and is differently regulated in input pathway-dependent and target cell type-dependent manners. In ...cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs), the density of synaptic AMPARs is approximately five times lower at parallel fiber (PF) synapses than at climbing fiber (CF) synapses. However, molecular mechanisms underlying this biased synaptic distribution remain unclear. As a candidate molecule, we focused on glutamate receptor δ2 (GluRδ2 or GluD2), which is known to be efficiently trafficked to and selectively expressed at PF synapses in PCs. We applied postembedding immunogold electron microscopy to GluRδ2 knock-out (KO) and control mice, and measured labeling density for GluA1-4 at three excitatory synapses in the cerebellar molecular layer. In both control and GluRδ2-KO mice, GluA1-3 were localized at PF and CF synapses in PCs, while GluA2-4 were at PF synapses in interneurons. In control mice, labeling density for each of GluA1-3 was four to six times lower at PF-PC synapses than at CF-PC synapses. In GluRδ2-KO mice, however, their labeling density displayed a three- to fivefold increase at PF synapses, but not at CF synapses, thus effectively eliminating input pathway-dependent disparity between the two PC synapses. Furthermore, we found an unexpected twofold increase in labeling density for GluA2 and GluA3, but not GluA4, at PF-interneuron synapses, where we identified low but significant expression of GluRδ2. These results suggest that GluRδ2 is involved in a common mechanism that restricts the number of synaptic AMPARs at PF synapses in PCs and molecular layer interneurons.
Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) include mGluR1 and mGluR5, which are coupled to the Gq family of heterotrimeric G-proteins and readily activated by their selective agonist ...3,5-dihydroxyphenilglycine (DHPG). mGluR1 and mGluR5 exhibit nearly complementary distributions spatially or temporally in the central nervous system (CNS). In adult cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs), mGluR1 is a dominant group I mGluR and mGluR5 is undetectable. mGluR1 expression increases substantially during the first three weeks of postnatal development and remains high throughout adulthood. On the other hand, mGluR5 expression is observed during the first two postnatal weeks and then decreases. However, functional differences between mGluR1 and mGluR5 in the CNS remains to be elucidated. To address this issue, we generated “mGluR5-rescue” mice in which mGluR5 is specifically expressed in PCs in global mGluR1-knockout (KO) mice. mGluR5-rescue mice exhibited apparently normal motor coordination, developmental elimination of redundant climbing fiber (CF)-PC synapses, and delay eyeblink conditioning, which were severely impaired in mGluR1-KO mice. We concluded that mGluR5 is functionally comparable with mGluR1 in cerebellar PCs.
Lysosome-associated membrane protein 5 (LAMP5) is a mammalian ortholog of the Caenorhabditis elegans protein, UNC-46, which functions as a sorting factor to localize the vesicular GABA transporter ...UNC-47 to synaptic vesicles. In the mouse forebrain, LAMP5 is expressed in a subpopulation of GABAergic neurons in the olfactory bulb and the striato-nigral system, where it is required for fine-tuning of GABAergic synaptic transmission. Here we focus on the prominent expression of LAMP5 in the brainstem and spinal cord and suggest a role for LAMP5 in these brain regions. LAMP5 was highly expressed in several brainstem nuclei involved with auditory processing including the cochlear nuclei, the superior olivary complex, nuclei of the lateral lemniscus and grey matter in the spinal cord. It was localized exclusively in inhibitory synaptic terminals, as has been reported in the forebrain. In the absence of LAMP5, localization of the vesicular inhibitory amino acid transporter (VIAAT) was unaltered in the lateral superior olive and the ventral cochlear nuclei, arguing against a conserved role for LAMP5 in trafficking VIAAT. Lamp5 knockout mice showed no overt behavioral abnormality but an increased startle response to auditory and tactile stimuli. In addition, LAMP5 deficiency led to a larger intensity-dependent increase of wave I, II and V peak amplitude of auditory brainstem response. Our results indicate that LAMP5 plays a pivotal role in sensorimotor processing in the brainstem and spinal cord.
Cdc42 is a widely expressed protein that belongs to the family of Rho GTPases and controls a broad variety of signal transduction pathways in a variety of cell types. To investigate the physiological ...functions of Cdc42 during cartilage development, we generated chondrocyte-specific inactivated Cdc42 mutant mice (Cdc42fl/fl; Col2-Cre). The gross morphology of mutant neonates showed shorter limbs and body as compared with the control mice (Cdc42fl/fl). Skeletal preparations stained with alcian blue and alizarin red also revealed that the body and the long bone length of the mutants were shorter than those of the control mice. Furthermore, severe defects were found in growth plate chondrocytes in the femur sections of mutant mice, characterized by a reduced proliferating zone height, wider hypertrophic zone, and loss of columnar organization in proliferating chondrocytes. The expression levels of chondrocyte marker genes, such as Col2, Col10, and Mmp13, in mutant mice were decreased as compared with the control mice. Mineralization of trabecular bones in the femur sections was also decreased in the mutants as compared with control mice, whereas osteoid volume was increased. Together these results suggested that chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation in growth plates in the present mutant mice were not normally organized, which contributed to abnormal bone formation. We concluded that Cdc42 is essential for cartilage development during endochondral bone formation.
Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2A (LGMD2A) is a genetic disease that is caused by mutations in the calpain 3 gene (CAPN3), which encodes the skeletal muscle-specific calpain, calpain 3 (also ...known as p94). However, the precise mechanism by which p94 functions in the pathogenesis of this disease remains unclear. Here, using p94 knockin mice (termed herein p94KI mice) in which endogenous p94 was replaced with a proteolytically inactive but structurally intact p94:C129S mutant protein, we have demonstrated that stretch-dependent p94 distribution in sarcomeres plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of LGMD2A. The p94KI mice developed a progressive muscular dystrophy, which was exacerbated by exercise. The exercise-induced muscle degeneration in p94KI mice was associated with an inefficient redistribution of p94:C129S in stretched sarcomeres. Furthermore, the p94KI mice showed impaired adaptation to physical stress, which was accompanied by compromised upregulation of muscle ankyrin-repeat protein-2 and hsp upon exercise. These findings indicate that the stretch-induced dynamic redistribution of p94 is dependent on its protease activity and essential to protect muscle from degeneration, particularly under conditions of physical stress. Furthermore, our data provide direct evidence that loss of p94 protease activity can result in LGMD2A and molecular insight into how this could occur.
Rac1 is a member of Rho family GTPases and regulates multiple cellular functions through actin cytoskeleton reorganization. During cerebral corticogenesis, Rac1 has been assumed to be involved in ...neuronal migration, neurite formation, polarization and axonal guidance. Here we show the specific role of Rac1, regulating midline crossing of commissural axons during cortical development by using cortex‐restricted Rac1‐knockout mice. In the knockout mice, Rac1 was eliminated from the beginning of corticogenesis exclusively in the dorsal telencephalon where progenitors of cortical projection neurons are located. Cortical lamination was distorted only mildly in the knockout mice, being preserved with six layers of neurons. However, cortex‐restricted Rac1 deletion exhibited striking agenesis of commissural axons including the corpus callosum and anterior commissure without affecting other corticofugal axons including corticospinal and corticothalamic projections. Of note, the commissural axons of the knockout mice were potent in extending their process, but failed to cross the midline. Therefore, these findings indicate that Rac1 specifically controls the midline crossing of the commissural fibers, but not axonal formation of corticospinal or corticothalamic fibers during cortical development.
The mechanism by which thrombotic vessel occlusion occurs independently of plaque development or endothelial cell (EC) disruption remains unclear, largely because of an inability to visualize the ...formation of thrombus, especially at the single-platelet level in real time. Here we demonstrate that rapidly developing thrombi composed of discoid platelets can be induced in the mesenteric capillaries, arterioles, and large-sized arteries of living mice, enabling characterization of the kinetics of thrombosis initiation and the multicellular interrelationships during thrombus development. Platelet aggregation without EC disruption was triggered by reactive oxygen species (ROS) photochemically induced by moderate power laser irradiation. The inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1 could be key components of the EC response, acting through regulation of VWF mobilization to the cell surface. Thrombus formation was then initiated by the binding of platelet GPIbα to endothelial VWF in our model, and this effect was inhibited by the ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine. Actin linker talin-dependent activation of alphaIIb-beta3 integrin or Rac1 in platelets was required for late-phase thrombus stability. Our novel imaging technology illustrates the molecular mechanism underlying inflammation-based thrombus formation by discoid platelets on undisrupted ECs and suggests control of ROS could be a useful therapeutic target for the prevention of thrombotic diseases.
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