Dissecting the autism-associated 16p11.2 locus identifies multiple drivers in neuroanatomical phenotypes and unveils a male-specific role for the major vault protein.

Background: Using mouse genetic studies and systematic assessments of brain neuroanatomical phenotypes, we set out to identify which of the 30 genes causes brain defects at the autism-associated 16p11.2 locus.

Results: We show that multiple genes mapping to this region interact to regulate brain anatomy, with female mice exhibiting far fewer brain neuroanatomical phenotypes.

Quantitative Neuroanatomical Phenotyping of the Embryonic Mouse Brain.

Congenital neurodevelopmental anomalies are present from birth and are characterized by an abnormal development of one or more structures of the brain. Brain structural anomalies are highly comorbid with neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders such as intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy, and schizophrenia, and 80% are of genetic origin. We aim to address an important neurobiological question: How many genes regulate the normal anatomy of the brain during development.

Large-scale neuroanatomical study uncovers 198 gene associations in mouse brain morphogenesis.

Brain morphogenesis is an important process contributing to higher-order cognition, however our knowledge about its biological basis is largely incomplete. Here we analyze 118 neuroanatomical parameters in 1,566 mutant mouse lines and identify 198 genes whose disruptions yield NeuroAnatomical Phenotypes (NAPs), mostly affecting structures implicated in brain connectivity. Groups of functionally similar NAP genes participate in pathways involving the cytoskeleton, the cell cycle and the synapse, display distinct fetal and postnatal brain expression dynamics and importantly, their disruption can yield convergent phenotypic patterns.

A Method for Parasagittal Sectioning for Neuroanatomical Quantification of Brain Structures in the Adult Mouse.

In this article, we present a standardized protocol for fast and robust neuroanatomical phenotyping of the adult mouse brain, which complements a previously published article (doi: 10.1002/cpmo.12) in Current Protocols in Mouse Biology.

WD40-repeat 47, a microtubule-associated protein, is essential for brain development and autophagy.

The family of WD40-repeat (WDR) proteins is one of the largest in eukaryotes, but little is known about their function in brain development. Among 26 WDR genes assessed, we found 7 displaying a major impact in neuronal morphology when inactivated in mice. Remarkably, all seven genes showed corpus callosum defects, including thicker (, , , and ), thinner ( and ), or absent corpus callosum (), revealing a common role for WDR genes in brain connectivity.

Histomorphological Phenotyping of the Adult Mouse Brain.

This article describes a series of standard operating procedures for morphological phenotyping of the mouse brain using basic histology. Many histological studies of the mouse brain use qualitative approaches based on what the human eye can detect. Consequently, some phenotypic information may be missed.

Conditional expression of Parkinson's disease-related R1441C LRRK2 in midbrain dopaminergic neurons of mice causes nuclear abnormalities without neurodegeneration.

Mutations in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene cause late-onset, autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease (PD). The clinical and neurochemical features of LRRK2-linked PD are similar to idiopathic disease although neuropathology is somewhat heterogeneous. Dominant mutations in LRRK2 precipitate neurodegeneration through a toxic gain-of-function mechanism which can be modeled in transgenic mice overexpressing human LRRK2 variants.