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PDF file - 65K, Supplementary Figure 6. A schematic drawing of full length N1ICD in mouse, N1ICD allele analyzed in this study, and the ACTB-Notch1 allele previously published (Yang et al., 2004) and analyzed in Supplementary Figure 6.

PDF file - 133K, Supplementary Figure 3. Reduced p53 dose rescues precocious GFAP expression in the N1ICD;hGFAP-cre brains.

PDF file - 84K, Supplementary Figure 2. Reduced p53 dose rescues brain sizes in N1ICD;hGFAP-cre transgenic mice.

While activation of the Notch pathway is observed in many human cancers, it is unknown whether elevated Notch1 expression is sufficient to initiate tumorigenesis in most tissues. To test the oncogenic potential of Notch1 in solid tumors, we expressed an activated form of Notch1 (N1ICD) in the developing mouse brain. N1ICD;hGFAP-cre mice were viable but developed severe ataxia and seizures, and died by weaning age. Analysis of transgenic embryo brains revealed that N1ICD expression induced p53-dependent apoptosis. When apoptosis was blocked by genetic deletion of p53, 30% to 40% of N1ICD;GFAP-cre;p53+/− and N1ICD;GFAP-cre;p53−/− mice developed spontaneous medulloblastomas. Interestingly, N1ICD-induced medulloblastomas most closely resembled the sonic hedgehog subgroup of human medulloblastoma at the molecular level. Surprisingly, N1ICD-induced tumors do not maintain high levels of the Notch pathway gene expression, except for Notch2, showing that initiating oncogenic events may not be decipherable by analyzing growing tumors in some cases. In summary, this study shows that Notch1 has an oncogenic potential in the brain when combined with other oncogenic hits, such as p53 loss, and provides a novel mouse model of medulloblastoma. Cancer Res; 73(17); 5381–90. ©2013 AACR.

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PDF file - 158K, Supplementary Figure 1. Reduced p53 dose rescues apoptosis in N1ICD;hGFAP-cre brains.

PDF file - 199K, Supplementary Figure 5. Increased apoptosis and reduced proliferation of neural precursor cells in ACTB-N1ICD brains.

PDF file - 84K, Supplementary Figure 4. N1ICD induced medulloblastomas.

The authors show that Netrin-1-Unc5B signaling controls blood-brain barrier integrity by maintaining Wnt/b-catenin signaling and that delivery of antibodies blocking Netrin-1 binding to Unc5B causes transient and size-selective BBB breakdown. Blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity is critical for proper function of the central nervous system (CNS). Here, we show that the endothelial Unc5B receptor controls BBB integrity by maintaining Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. Inducible endothelial-specific deletion of Unc5B in adult mice leads to BBB leak from brain capillaries that convert to a barrier-incompetent state with reduced Claudin-5 and increased PLVAP expression. Loss of Unc5B decreases BBB Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, and beta-catenin overexpression rescues Unc5B mutant BBB defects. Mechanistically, the Unc5B ligand Netrin-1 enhances Unc5B interaction with the Wnt co-receptor LRP6, induces its phosphorylation and activates Wnt/beta-catenin downstream signaling. Intravenous delivery of antibodies blocking Netrin-1 binding to Unc5B causes a transient BBB breakdown and disruption of Wnt signaling, followed by neurovascular barrier resealing. These data identify Netrin-1-Unc5B signaling as a ligand-receptor pathway that regulates BBB integrity, with implications for CNS diseases.

Significance Understanding and treating neurological disorders are global priorities. Some of these diseases are engendered by mutations that cause defects in the cellular synthesis of transfer RNAs (tRNAs), which function as adapter molecules that translate messenger RNAs into proteins. During tRNA biogenesis, ribonuclease P catalyzes removal of the transcribed sequence upstream of the mature tRNA. Here, we focus on a cytoplasmic tRNA Arg UCU that is expressed specifically in neurons and, when harboring a particular point mutation, contributes to neurodegeneration in mice. Our results suggest that this mutation favors stable alternative structures that are not cleaved by mouse ribonuclease P and motivate a paradigm that may help to understand the molecular basis for disease-associated mutations in other tRNAs.