Modelling genetic mosaicism of neurodevelopmental disorders in vivo by a Cre-amplifying fluorescent reporter

Nat Commun. 2020 Dec 3;11(1):6194. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19864-w.

Abstract

Genetic mosaicism, a condition in which an organ includes cells with different genotypes, is frequently present in monogenic diseases of the central nervous system caused by the random inactivation of the X-chromosome, in the case of X-linked pathologies, or by somatic mutations affecting a subset of neurons. The comprehension of the mechanisms of these diseases and of the cell-autonomous effects of specific mutations requires the generation of sparse mosaic models, in which the genotype of each neuron is univocally identified by the expression of a fluorescent protein in vivo. Here, we show a dual-color reporter system that, when expressed in a floxed mouse line for a target gene, leads to the creation of mosaics with tunable degree. We demonstrate the generation of a knockout mosaic of the autism/epilepsy related gene PTEN in which the genotype of each neuron is reliably identified, and the neuronal phenotype is accurately characterized by two-photon microscopy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials
  • Animals
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Electroencephalography
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry*
  • Gene Expression
  • Genes, Reporter*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Integrases / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mosaicism*
  • NIH 3T3 Cells
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders / genetics*
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders / physiopathology
  • PTEN Phosphohydrolase / metabolism
  • Tamoxifen / pharmacology

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Tamoxifen
  • Cre recombinase
  • Integrases
  • PTEN Phosphohydrolase