Genomic disorders are frequent diseases (~1 per 1000 births) and often sporadic resulting from de novo rearrangements (3). The clinical phenotype is a consequence of abnormal dosage of a gene(s) located within the rearranged genomic fragment(s). SMS is a genomic disorder with multiple congenital anomalies associated with a microdeletion of 3.7 Mb in chromosome 17pl 1.2. By chromosome engineering we have generated a mouse model for SMS, Df(ll)17/+, that recapitulates phenotypes observed in human patients (21, 22). Recently, mutations in the retinoic acid induced 1 gene (RAI1) have been identified as causative of SMS (11). Additionally, mice null for Rail exhibit SMS-related abnormalities (22). This project postulates that restoring the normal gene dosage of Rail protein at an appropriate time might prevent the development of at least some of the phenotypes seen in the mouse model for SMS. This hypothesis entails 2 critical questions: Is the disease phenotype reversible? If so, when is it too late to begin therapy? To answer these questions, we propose to: 1. Generate mice in which we can control the spatial-temporal expression of Rail. We will produce mice that harbor a heterozygous deletion in the syntenic critical region of SMS and an inducible wild-type Rail allele. For this we propose to generate 2 transgenic mice: 1 that harbors an extra copy of wild-type Rail downstream of a tetracycline-responsive promoter, and a second 1 carrying a modified BAG transgene expressing the tetracycline-inhibitable transcription factor (tTA) under the control of Rail specific promoter. In this way, expression of the Rail transgene can be initiated in a Rail promoter-dependent manner at different stages of disease progression. 2. Characterize the phenotypic effects of restoring Rail at a proper dosage at various time points. We will perform phenotypic analysis, observing craniofacial development, body weight, and seizures as a first and quick indication of reversibility or preventability of the phenotype. In addition, behavioral tests will be used to evaluate locomotor activity, and circadian rhythm. The goal of this proposal is to study the reversibility of Smith-Magenis Syndorme (SMS) when the Rail gene dosage is corrected at an appropriate spacio-temporal manner in a mouse model for SMS. This research will be done primarily in Chile at the Centre de Estudios Cientificos (CECS), in collaboration with Dr. Katherina Walz, as an extention of NIH grant #RO 1 DEI5210-02. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
1R03TW007536-01
Application #
7070722
Study Section
International and Cooperative Projects - 1 Study Section (ICP1)
Program Officer
Katz, Flora N
Project Start
2006-04-15
Project End
2009-02-28
Budget Start
2006-04-15
Budget End
2007-02-28
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$42,279
Indirect Cost
Name
Baylor College of Medicine
Department
Genetics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
051113330
City
Houston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77030
Carmona-Mora, Paulina; Encina, Carolina A; Canales, Cesar P et al. (2010) Functional and cellular characterization of human Retinoic Acid Induced 1 (RAI1) mutations associated with Smith-Magenis Syndrome. BMC Mol Biol 11:63
Ricard, Guénola; Molina, Jessica; Chrast, Jacqueline et al. (2010) Phenotypic consequences of copy number variation: insights from Smith-Magenis and Potocki-Lupski syndrome mouse models. PLoS Biol 8:e1000543
Krall, Paola; Canales, Cesar P; Kairath, Pamela et al. (2010) Podocyte-specific overexpression of wild type or mutant trpc6 in mice is sufficient to cause glomerular disease. PLoS One 5:e12859
Carmona-Mora, P; Molina, J; Encina, C A et al. (2009) Mouse models of genomic syndromes as tools for understanding the basis of complex traits: an example with the smith-magenis and the potocki-lupski syndromes. Curr Genomics 10:259-68
Walz, Katherina; Paylor, Richard; Yan, Jiong et al. (2006) Rai1 duplication causes physical and behavioral phenotypes in a mouse model of dup(17)(p11.2p11.2). J Clin Invest 116:3035-41