Changes In Repeat Length Research Articles

Somatic and intergenerational G4C2 hexanucleotide repeat instability in a human C9orf72 knock-in mouse model.

Expansion of a G4C2 repeat in the C9orf72 gene is associated with familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). To investigate the underlying mechanisms of repeat instability, which occurs both somatically and intergenerationally, we created a novel mouse model of familial ALS/FTD that harbors 96 copies of G4C2 repeats at a humanized C9orf72 locus. In mouse embryonic stem cells, we observed two modes of repeat expansion. First, we noted minor increases in repeat length per expansion event, which was dependent on a mismatch repair pathway protein Msh2. Second, we found major increases in repeat length per event when a DNA double- or single-strand break (DSB/SSB) was artificially introduced proximal to the repeats, and which was dependent on the homology-directed repair (HDR) pathway. In mice, the first mode primarily drove somatic repeat expansion. Major changes in repeat length, including expansion, were observed when SSB was introduced in one-cell embryos, or intergenerationally without DSB/SSB introduction if G4C2 repeats exceeded 400 copies, although spontaneous HDR-mediated expansion has yet to be identified. These findings provide a novel strategy to model repeat expansion in a non-human genome and offer insights into the mechanism behind C9orf72 G4C2 repeat instability.

Structure-forming CAG/CTG repeats interfere with gap repair to cause repeat expansions and chromosome breaks

Expanded CAG/CTG repeats are sites of DNA damage, leading to repeat length changes. Homologous recombination (HR) is one cause of repeat instability and we hypothesized that gap filling was a driver of repeat instability during HR. To test this, we developed an assay such that resection and ssDNA gap fill-in would occur across a (CAG)70 or (CTG)70 repeat tract. When the ssDNA template was a CTG sequence, there were increased repeat contractions and a fragile site was created leading to large-scale deletions. When the CTG sequence was on the resected strand, resection was inhibited, resulting in repeat expansions. Increased nucleolytic processing by deletion of Rad9, the ortholog of 53BP1, rescued repeat instability and chromosome breakage. Loss of Rad51 increased contractions implicating a protective role for Rad51 on ssDNA. Together, our work implicates structure-forming repeats as an impediment to resection and gap-filling which can lead to mutations and large-scale deletions.

Tissue-specific and repeat length-dependent somatic instability of the X-linked dystonia parkinsonism-associated CCCTCT repeat

X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP) is a progressive adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder caused by insertion of a SINE-VNTR-Alu (SVA) retrotransposon in the TAF1 gene. The SVA retrotransposon contains a CCCTCT hexameric repeat tract of variable length, whose length is inversely correlated with age at onset. This places XDP in a broader class of repeat expansion diseases, characterized by the instability of their causative repeat mutations. Here, we observe similar inverse correlations between CCCTCT repeat length with age at onset and age at death and no obvious correlation with disease duration. To gain insight into repeat instability in XDP we performed comprehensive quantitative analyses of somatic instability of the XDP CCCTCT repeat in blood and in seventeen brain regions from affected males. Our findings reveal repeat length-dependent and expansion-based instability of the XDP CCCTCT repeat, with greater levels of expansion in brain than in blood. The brain exhibits regional-specific patterns of instability that are broadly similar across individuals, with cerebellum exhibiting low instability and cortical regions exhibiting relatively high instability. The spectrum of somatic instability in the brain includes a high proportion of moderate repeat length changes of up to 5 repeats, as well as expansions of ~ 20- > 100 repeats and contractions of ~ 20–40 repeats at lower frequencies. Comparison with HTT CAG repeat instability in postmortem Huntington’s disease brains reveals similar brain region-specific profiles, indicating common trans-acting factors that contribute to the instability of both repeats. Analyses in XDP brains of expansion of a different SVA-associated CCCTCT located in the LIPG gene, and not known to be disease-associated, reveals repeat length-dependent expansion at overall lower levels relative to the XDP CCCTCT repeat, suggesting that expansion propensity may be modified by local chromatin structure. Together, the data support a role for repeat length-dependent somatic expansion in the process(es) driving the onset of XDP and prompt further investigation into repeat dynamics and the relationship to disease.

Mechanisms of genetic instability caused by (CGG)n repeats in an experimental mammalian system.

We describe a new experimental system to study genome instability caused by fragile X (CGG)n repeats in mammalian cells. It is based on a selectable cassette carrying the HyTK gene under the control of the FMR1 promoter with (CGG)n repeats in its 5′-UTR, which was integrated into the unique RL5 site in murine erythroid leukemia cells. Carrier-size (CGG)n repeats dramatically elevate the frequency of the reporter’s inactivation making cells ganciclovir-resistant. These resistant clones have a unique mutational signature: a change in the repeat length concurrent with mutagenesis in the reporter gene. Inactivation of genes implicated in break-induced replication including POLD3, POLD4, RAD52, RAD51 and SMARCAL1, reduced the frequency of ganciclovir-resistant clones to the baseline level that was observed in the absence of (CGG)n repeats. We propose that replication fork collapse at carrier-size (CGG)n repeats can trigger break-induced replication, which result in simultaneous repeat length changes and mutagenesis at a distance.

Trinucleotide repeat instability during double-strand break repair: from mechanisms to gene therapy.

Trinucleotide repeats are a particular class of microsatellites whose large expansions are responsible for at least two dozen human neurological and developmental disorders. Slippage of the two complementary DNA strands during replication, homologous recombination or DNA repair is generally accepted as a mechanism leading to repeat length changes, creating expansions and contractions of the repeat tract. The present review focuses on recent developments on double-strand break repair involving trinucleotide repeat tracts. Experimental evidences in model organisms show that gene conversion and break-induced replication may lead to large repeat tract expansions, while frequent contractions occur either by single-strand annealing between repeat ends or by gene conversion, triggering near-complete contraction of the repeat tract. In the second part of this review, different therapeutic approaches using highly specific single- or double-strand endonucleases targeted to trinucleotide repeat loci are compared. Relative efficacies and specificities of these nucleases will be discussed, as well as their potential strengths and weaknesses for possible future gene therapy of these dramatic disorders.

The Chromatin Remodeler Isw1 Prevents CAG Repeat Expansions During Transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

CAG/CTG trinucleotide repeats are unstable sequences that are difficult to replicate, repair, and transcribe due to their structure-forming nature. CAG repeats strongly position nucleosomes; however, little is known about the chromatin remodeling needed to prevent repeat instability. In a Saccharomyces cerevisiae model system with CAG repeats carried on a YAC, we discovered that the chromatin remodeler Isw1 is required to prevent CAG repeat expansions during transcription. CAG repeat expansions in the absence of Isw1 were dependent on both transcription-coupled repair (TCR) and base-excision repair (BER). Furthermore, isw1∆ mutants are sensitive to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and exhibit synergistic MMS sensitivity when combined with BER or TCR pathway mutants. We conclude that CAG expansions in the isw1∆ mutant occur during a transcription-coupled excision repair process that involves both TCR and BER pathways. We observed increased RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) occupancy at the CAG repeat when transcription of the repeat was induced, but RNAPII binding did not change in isw1∆ mutants, ruling out a role for Isw1 remodeling in RNAPII progression. However, nucleosome occupancy over a transcribed CAG tract was altered in isw1∆ mutants. Based on the known role of Isw1 in the reestablishment of nucleosomal spacing after transcription, we suggest that a defect in this function allows DNA structures to form within repetitive DNA tracts, resulting in inappropriate excision repair and repeat-length changes. These results establish a new function for Isw1 in directly maintaining the chromatin structure at the CAG repeat, thereby limiting expansions that can occur during transcription-coupled excision repair.

Methods to Study Repeat Fragility and Instability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Trinucleotide repeats are common in the human genome and can undergo changes in repeat length. Expanded CAG repeats have been linked to over 14 human diseases and are considered hotspots for breakage and genomic rearrangement. Here, we describe two Saccharomyces cerevisiae based assays that evaluate the rate of chromosome breakage that occurs within a repeat tract (fragility), and a PCR-based assay to evaluate tract length changes (instability). The first fragility assay utilizes end-loss and subsequent telomere addition as the main mode of repair of a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC). The second fragility assay relies on the fact that a chromosomal break stimulates recombination-mediated repair. In addition to understanding the role of fragility at repetitive DNA sequences, both assays can be modified to evaluate instability of a CAG repeat using a PCR-based assay. All three assays have been essential in understanding the genetic mechanisms that cause chromosome breaks and tract-length changes at unstable repeats.

Cytosine deamination and base excision repair cause R-loop–induced CAG repeat fragility and instability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

CAG/CTG repeats are structure-forming repetitive DNA sequences, and expansion beyond a threshold of ∼35 CAG repeats is the cause of several human diseases. Expanded CAG repeats are prone to breakage, and repair of the breaks can cause repeat contractions and expansions. In this study, we found that cotranscriptional R-loops formed at a CAG-70 repeat inserted into a yeast chromosome. R-loops were further elevated upon deletion of yeast RNaseH genes and caused repeat fragility. A significant increase in CAG repeat contractions was also observed, consistent with previous human cell studies. Deletion of yeast cytosine deaminase Fcy1 significantly decreased the rate of CAG repeat fragility and contractions in the rnh1Δrnh201Δ background, indicating that Fcy1-mediated deamination is one cause of breakage and contractions in the presence of R-loops. Furthermore, base excision repair (BER) is responsible for causing CAG repeat contractions downstream of Fcy1, but not fragility. The Rad1/XPF and Rad2/XPG nucleases were also important in protecting against contractions, but through BER rather than nucleotide excision repair. Surprisingly, the MutLγ (Mlh1/Mlh3) endonuclease caused R-loop-dependent CAG fragility, defining an alternative function for this complex. These findings provide evidence that breakage at expanded CAG repeats occurs due to R-loop formation and reveal two mechanisms for CAG repeat instability: one mediated by cytosine deamination of DNA engaged in R-loops and the other by MutLγ cleavage. Since disease-causing CAG repeats occur in transcribed regions, our results suggest that R-loop-mediated fragility is a mechanism that could cause DNA damage and repeat-length changes in human cells.

Standardization of capillary electrophoresis for diagnosis of fragile X syndrome in the Brazilian public health system.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability. The most common etiology of the syndrome is expansion and methylation of a CGG trinucleotide at chromosome region Xq27.3 involving FMR1 (fragile X mental retardation 1 gene). This disorder is commonly underdiagnosed in children and adolescents, given the high clinical variability. In Brazil, molecular diagnosis of FXS by CE does not exist in the public health system. The current standard for separation and identification of DNA fragment sizes is 50 cm CE, which is uncommon in public genotyping laboratories. This study describes the standardization of 36 cm CE for fragment analysis of samples from patients with intellectual disability suggestive of FXS. Genomic dsDNA was isolated from patients and amplified by PCR using the FMR1 AmplideX® Kit. It was then possible to detect changes in repeat length of FMR1, such as full mutation and premutation. Thus, the proposed standardization proved to be effective for the diagnosis of FXS, permitting suitable genetic counseling for families. Inclusion of molecular testing such as this in the Brazilian public health service bridges the gap between available technologies and effective diagnosis, universalizing access to genetic testing in central Brazil.

Abstract CN06-02: Insight into colorectal cancer etiology through MPE: Unmasking the links with obesity and smoking

Abstract Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer morbidity and mortality worldwide. Epidemiologic studies have identified a host of genetic, lifestyle and demographic factors associated with colorectal cancer incidence, including high body mass index (BMI) and, perhaps less convincingly, cigarette smoking. Epidemiologic studies have often considered colorectal cancer as a singular disease outcome, ignoring potential disease heterogeneity; more recently, however, studies have further investigated whether risk and prognostic factors for colorectal cancer differ by tumor molecular phenotype, including microsatellite instability (MSI) status. MSI is the result of defective DNA mismatch repair capacity and it is a distinct tumor phenotype whereby short repetitive DNA sequences undergo a change in repeat length. Approximately 15% of colorectal tumors display MSI, usually the result of epigenetic modification of MLH1, a gene that encodes a mismatch repair protein, or less often, because the affected individual has a germline mutation in a DNA mismatch repair gene, consistent with Lynch syndrome. The majority of colorectal tumors develop despite having competent mismatch repair; these tumors, known as microsatellite (MS)-stable, arise through chromosomal instability and do not display marked gains or losses in MS regions. Other important molecular phenotypes for colorectal cancer include CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), and presence or absence of somatic mutations in the KRAS and BRAF genes. While BMI is a consistent and convincing risk factor for colorectal cancer overall (odds ratios and relative risks in the range of 1.3 to 1.5 are common for an obese BMI relative to a normal BMI), recent studies have suggested the associations are higher, or even restricted to, tumors that are MS-stable. Using the Colon Cancer Family Registry, our group showed that an obese BMI (>30 kg/m^2) relative to a normal BMI (BMI: 18.5-24.99 kg/m^2) was associated with an approximate 2-fold increased risk of MS-stable colorectal cancer while the association with MSI-high colorectal cancer was null. Other recent studies have shown a similar pattern, and other groups have shown that these results might be corroborated with FASN. Current work in the Colon Cancer Family Registry is seeking to address whether the prognostic (i.e., survival) benefit of MSI-high compared to MS-stable tumors further differs by level of obesity. The link between colorectal cancer and cigarette smoking has been more equivocal, with studies generally showing null associations or only modestly higher risks among smokers compared to non-smokers. Herein, tumor molecular phenotype data have been particularly revealing. Data from the Colon Cancer Family Registry showed a null association between ever smoking and colorectal cancer risk overall; however, when stratified by MSI status, risk of MSI-high cancer was about 2-fold higher among long-duration smokers relative to never smokers. Similar findings were reported in the prospective Iowa Women's Health Study where doubling in risks of MSI-high, CIMP-positive and BRAF mutation-positive colorectal cancers were reported for ever smoking while null associations were shown for tumors that lacked these molecular phenotypes. Additional work from one study center involved in the Colon Cancer Family Registry has suggested that the adverse impact of smoking on colorectal cancer survival is limited to patients diagnosed with MSI-high tumors. In addition to presenting published and unpublished results on associations of BMI and smoking with colorectal cancer incidence and survival, this presentation will also share recent experiences with collecting tumor blocks from a prospective cohort study, the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study-II. Citation Format: Peter T. Campbell. Insight into colorectal cancer etiology through MPE: Unmasking the links with obesity and smoking. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr CN06-02.

Quantification of Age-Dependent Somatic CAG Repeat Instability in Hdh CAG Knock-In Mice Reveals Different Expansion Dynamics in Striatum and Liver

BackgroundAge at onset of Huntington's disease (HD) is largely determined by the CAG trinucleotide repeat length in the HTT gene. Importantly, the CAG repeat undergoes tissue-specific somatic instability, prevalent in brain regions that are disease targets, suggesting a potential role for somatic CAG repeat instability in modifying HD pathogenesis. Thus, understanding underlying mechanisms of somatic CAG repeat instability may lead to discoveries of novel therapeutics for HD. Investigation of the dynamics of the CAG repeat size changes over time may provide insights into the mechanisms underlying CAG repeat instability.Methodology/Principal FindingsTo understand how the HTT CAG repeat length changes over time, we quantified somatic instability of the CAG repeat in Huntington's disease CAG knock-in mice from 2–16 months of age in liver, striatum, spleen and tail. The HTT CAG repeat in spleen and tail was very stable, but that in liver and striatum expanded over time at an average rate of one CAG per month. Interestingly, the patterns of repeat instability were different between liver and striatum. Unstable CAG repeats in liver repeatedly gained similar sizes of additional CAG repeats (approximately two CAGs per month), maintaining a distinct population of unstable repeats. In contrast, unstable CAG repeats in striatum gained additional repeats with different sizes resulting in broadly distributed unstable CAG repeats. Expanded CAG repeats in the liver were highly enriched in polyploid hepatocytes, suggesting that the pattern of liver instability may reflect the restriction of the unstable repeats to a unique cell type.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results are consistent with repeat expansion occurring as a consequence of recurrent small repeat insertions that differ in different tissues. Investigation of the specific mechanisms that underlie liver and striatal instability will contribute to our understanding of the relationship between instability and disease and the means to intervene in this process.

Abstract C20: MGMT promoter methylation and analysis of microsatellite instability in head and neck cancer by consensus markers

Abstract Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world and traditional prognostic indices are of limited use in predicting prognosis. Therefore, there is a need for a beter understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of the disease and a great effort is being made to determine new prognostic and predictive markers that could improve stratification of the patients Polymorphic microsatellites are useful genetic markers and important tools for studying genetic alterations in tumors. Microsatellite instability refers to the impairment of the mismatch repair system resulting in gains or losses in the number of the tandem repeat units. Cells with mutated mismatch repair genes are not able to correctly repair these errors. The importance of microsatellite instability in head and neck cancer is not well established because of lack of comparable parameters, use of different markers, different criteria in classification and discrepancies concerning the loci examined. Recently it has been shown that mononucleotide markers are more sensitive and specific than dinucleotide markers for the detection of microsatelite instability. No standard approach for the study of MSI has been agreed to in HNC. In this study we analyzed the role and incidence of microsatellite instability in head and neck cancer with criteria and markers recommended by NCI which have been widely used for different types of cancer. We also analyzed methylation of the promoter region of the MGMT gene which functions in the repair pathway of alkylating nitrosocompounds. Microsatellite instability was analyzed in matching tumor and normal tissue samples from 99 patients with head and neck cancer using a panel of five (NR21, BAT25, BAT26, NR24 and MONO27) mononucletoide markers. Two pentanucleotide markers were used to correctly identify the individual tumor and normal tissue samples. The analyses were performed on an ABI Prism 310 capillary electrophoresis system. Microsatellite instability was observed in 26 patients (26.2%). The most frequently affected markers were BAT 25 and NR21 which displayed changes in repeat length in 19 and 11 patients, respectively. Among the microsatellite-positive patients 17 tumor samples (17.1%) displayed high degrees of instability while the remaining 9 samples were instable in only one locus. In five patients instability was observed in three or more loci. Instability was more frequent in tumors with advanced stages. Significant methylation of the MGMT gene was observed in most patients. In 31 patients both alleles were methylated, while in 65 samples partial methylation was observed. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(23 Suppl):C20.

Intergenerational CAG repeat instability is highly heritable in Huntington's disease

We read with interest the article by Wheeler et al , who reported on factors associated with mutant CAG repeat instability in Huntington's disease (HD).1 Familial clustering appeared to be...

Factors associated with HD CAG repeat instability in Huntington disease

Background:The Huntington disease (HD) CAG repeat exhibits dramatic instability when transmitted to subsequent generations. The instability of the HD disease allele in male intergenerational transmissions is reflected in the variability...

Phase variation mediated niche adaptation during prolonged experimental murine infection with Helicobacter pylori

Changes in the repeats associated with the recently redefined repertoire of 31 phase-variable genes in Helicobacter pylori were investigated following murine gastric colonization for up to one year in three unrelated H. pylori strains. Between the beginning and end of the experimental period, changes were seen in ten genes (32 %), which would alter gene expression in one or more of the three strains studied. For those genes that showed repeat length changes at the longest time points, intermediate time points showed differences between the rates of change for different functional groups of genes. Genes most likely to be associated with immediate niche fitting changed most rapidly, including phospholipase A (pldA) and LPS biosynthetic genes. Other surface proteins, which may be under adaptive immune selection, changed more slowly. Restriction-modification genes showed no particular temporal pattern. The number of genes that phase varied during adaptation to the murine gastric environment correlated inversely with their relative fitness as previously determined in this murine model of colonization. This suggests a role for these genes in determining initial fitness for colonization as well as in subsequent niche adaptation. In addition, a coding tandem repeat within a phase-variable gene which does not control actual gene expression was also investigated. This repeat was found to vary in copy number during colonization. This suggests that changes in the structures encoded by tandem repeats may also play a role in altered protein functions and/or immune evasion during H. pylori colonization.

Genome-wide demethylation destabilizes CTG.CAG trinucleotide repeats in mammalian cells.

Many neurological diseases, including myotonic dystrophy, Huntington's disease and several spinocerebellar ataxias, result from intergenerational increases in the length of a CTG.CAG repeat tract. Although the basis for intergenerational repeat expansion is unclear, repeat tracts are especially unstable during germline development and production of gametes. Mammalian development is characterized by waves of genome-wide demethylation and remethylation. To test whether changes in methylation status might contribute to trinucleotide repeat instability, we examined the effects of DNA methyltransferase inhibitors on trinucleotide repeat stability in mammalian cells. Using a selectable genetic system for detection of repeat contractions in CHO cells, we showed that the rate of contractions increased >1000-fold upon treatment with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-deoxycytidine (5-aza-CdR). The link between DNA demethylation and repeat instability was strengthened by similar results obtained with hydralazine treatment, which inhibits expression of DNA methyltransferase. In human cells from myotonic dystrophy patients, treatment with 5-aza-CdR strongly destabilized repeat tracts in the DMPK gene, with a clear bias toward expansion. The bias toward expansion events and changes in repeat length that occur in jumps, rather than by accumulation of small changes, are reminiscent of the intergenerational repeat instability observed in human patients. The dramatic destabilizing effect of DNA methyltransferase inhibitors supports the hypothesis that changes in methylation patterns during epigenetic reprogramming may trigger the intergenerational repeat expansions that lead to disease.

Spontaneously arising mutL mutators in evolving Escherichia coli populations are the result of changes in repeat length.

Over the course of thousands of generations of growth in a glucose-limited environment, 3 of 12 experimental populations of Escherichia coli spontaneously and independently evolved greatly increased mutation rates. In two of the populations, the mutations responsible for this increased mutation rate lie in the same region of the mismatch repair gene mutL. In this region, a 6-bp repeat is present in three copies in the gene of the wild-type ancestor of the experimental populations but is present in four copies in one of the experimental populations and two copies in the other. These in-frame mutations either add or delete the amino acid sequence LA in the MutL protein. We determined that the replacement of the wild-type sequence with either of these mutations was sufficient to increase the mutation rate of the wild-type strain to a level comparable to that of the mutator strains. Complementation of strains bearing the mutator mutations with wild-type copies of either mutL or the mismatch repair gene uvrD rescued the wild-type mutation rate. The position of the mutator mutations-in the region of MutL known as the ATP lid-suggests a possible deficiency in MutL's ATPase activity as the cause of the mutator phenotype. The similarity of the two mutator mutations (despite the independent evolutionary histories of the populations that gave rise to them) leads to a discussion of the potential adaptive role of DNA repeats.

In vivo somatic microsatellite mutations identified in non-malignant human tissue.

Microsatellite instability (MSI) has been described in cancer cells and in vitro cell lines, and meiotic changes in repeat length have also been documented. We report the novel observation of somatic microsatellite mutation (SMM) in normal human somatic cells in vivo, detected while genotyping 5767 prenatal samples (4640 amniotic fluid samples and 1127 chorionic villus biopsies) as a diagnostic test for exclusion of trisomy 13, 18 or 21. Quantitative fluorescence-PCR using a multiplex of 12 primer pairs, for four loci on each of the three chromosomes, was followed by fragment analysis on a capillary-based genetic analyser. Forty-seven (4.2%) chorionic villus samples and six (0.1%) amniotic fluid samples showed allelic mosaicism, interpreted as SMM. In four cases, analysis of parental blood samples confirmed the presence of a de novo allele. SMM was detected at all but two of the 12 loci tested, and the incidence of mutation increased with repeat length. Detection of SMM in chorionic villus samples may imply less rigorous correction of replication errors in these extra-embryonic tissues, and is likely to have been facilitated by clonal expansion in the small samples of tissue tested. The presence of the same phenomenon in six amniotic fluid samples would imply that in these pregnancies, the instability event had occurred early in embryogenesis. The results suggest that defective proof reading during DNA replication may be more common in non-malignant human somatic tissue than previously recognised.

Identification of ter94, Drosophila VCP, as a modulator of polyglutamine-induced neurodegeneration.

We have successfully generated a Drosophila model of human polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases by the targeted expression of expanded-polyQ (ex-polyQ) in the Drosophila compound eye. The resulting eye degeneration is progressive and ex-polyQ dosage- and ex-polyQ length-dependent. Furthermore, intergenerational changes in repeat length were observed in homozygotes, with concomitant changes in the levels of degeneration. Through genetic screening, using this fly model, we identified loss-of-function mutants of the ter94 gene that encodes the Drosophila homolog of VCP/CDC48, a member of the AAA+ class of the ATPase protein family, as dominant suppressors. The suppressive effects of the ter94 mutants on ex-polyQ-induced neurodegeneration correlated well with the degrees of loss-of-function, but appeared not to result from the inhibition of ex-polyQ aggregate formation. In the ex-polyQ-expressing cells of the late pupa, an upregulation of ter94 expression was observed prior to cell death. Co-expression of ter94 with ex-polyQ severely enhanced eye degeneration. Interestingly, when ter94 was overexpressed in the eye by increasing the transgene copies, severe eye degeneration was induced. Furthermore, genetical studies revealed that ter94 was not involved in grim-, reaper-, hid-, ced4-, or p53-induced cell death pathways. From these observations, we propose that VCP is a novel cell death effector molecule in ex-polyQ-induced neurodegeneration, where the amount of VCP is critical. Control of VCP expression may thus be a potential therapeutic target in ex-polyQ-induced neurodegeneration.

Mouse tissue culture models of unstable triplet repeats: in vitro selection for larger alleles, mutational expansion bias and tissue specificity, but no association with cell division rates.

The expansion of CAG.CTG trinucleotide repeats has been associated with an increasing number of human diseases. Once into the expanded disease-associated range, the repeats become dramatically unstable in the germline and also throughout the soma. Instability is expansion-biased, contributing towards the unusual genetics, and most likely the tissue-specificity and progressive nature of the symptoms. Such expansions constitute a unique form of dynamic mutation whose mechanism is poorly understood. It is generally assumed that repeat length changes arise via replication slippage, yet no direct evidence exists to support this hypothesis in a mammalian system. We have previously generated transgenic mouse models of unstable CAG.CTG repeats that reconstitute the dynamic nature of somatic mosaicism observed in humans. We have now used tissues from these mice to establish in vitro cell cultures. Monitoring of repeat stability in these cells has revealed the progressive accumulation of larger alleles as a result of repeat length changes in vitro, as confirmed by single cell cloning. We also observed the selection of cells carrying longer repeats during the first few passages of the cultures and frequent additional selective sweeps at later stages. The highest levels of instability were observed in cultured kidney cells, whereas the transgene remained relatively stable in eye cells and very stable in lung cells, paralleling the previous in vivo observations. No correlation between repeat instability and the cell proliferation rate was found, rejecting a simple association between length change mutations and cell division, and confirming a role for additional cell-type specific factors.