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The physiological function of the PrP remains largely elusive. Its invalidation does not affect mouse survival and induces subtle phenotypes. To potentially assess this conundrum, we first comparatively analyzed the adult brain transcriptome of wild-type mice with that of transgenic mice invalidated at this locus either at the zygotic (Zurich PrP0/0 mice) or adult stages (NFH-Cre-Lox mice). Only subtle differences could be evidenced in the adult brains following microarray and QPCR analyses. When performed at an early adult stage, neuronal Prnp disruption appeared to sequentially induce an oxidative stress response and a nervous system remodeling, but it involved a limited number of only slightly modified genes. In sharp contrast, analysis at early embryonic stages, 7.5 and 8.5 dpc, just after the suspected normal time set of the Prnp locus activation, led to a transient perturbation of the transcriptome involving a larger number of genes and pointing to potential pathways related to the PrP physiological function. Overall, our data suggests an early adaptation of the mouse to the potentially detrimental lack of PrP during embryogenesis while its presence is less influential or redundant at later developmental stages.

Laminins are large heterotrimeric basement membrane glycoproteins composed of α, β and γ chains. The Laminin 5 isoform has an α3β3γ2 composition and is essential for the adhesion of basal keratinocytes to the underlying epithelial basement membrane where it is mainly located. Mutations in the genes coding for the 3 chains have been associated with a severe skin blistering disease, Herlitz's junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB), observed in different species as man, dog, cat and horse. In this study, we report the sequence of the 5.2 kb horse laminin alpha 3 cDNA (LAMA3) as well as the detection of two intronic SNPs. These data will be useful to further identify causal mutations for the disease in this gene.

Background The physiological function of the prion protein remains largely elusive while its key role in prion infection has been expansively documented. To potentially assess this conundrum, we performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis of the brain of wild-type mice with that of transgenic mice invalidated at this locus either at the zygotic or at the adult stages. Results Only subtle transcriptomic differences resulting from the Prnp knockout could be evidenced, beside Prnp itself, in the analyzed adult brains following microarray analysis of 24 109 mouse genes and QPCR assessment of some of the putatively marginally modulated loci. When performed at the adult stage, neuronal Prnp disruption appeared to sequentially induce a response to an oxidative stress and a remodeling of the nervous system. However, these events involved only a limited number of genes, expression levels of which were only slightly modified and not always confirmed by RT-qPCR. If not, the qPCR obtained data suggested even less pronounced differences. Conclusions These results suggest that the physiological function of PrP is redundant at the adult stage or important for only a small subset of the brain cell population under classical breeding conditions. Following its early reported embryonic developmental regulation, this lack of response could also imply that PrP has a more detrimental role during mouse embryogenesis and that potential transient compensatory mechanisms have to be searched for at the time this locus becomes transcriptionally activated.

Chantier qualité GA; International audience; RSPO1 is a newly discovered gene involved in sex differentiation. Two goat BAC clones encompassing the RSPO1 gene (gRSPO1) were injected into mouse oocytes and several transgenic lines derived. Both clones induced gRSPO1 over-expression in various tissues, including male and female gonads, with no obvious phenotype and normal sex-ratios. Introgression of the gRSPO1 transgene into a mouse RSPO1 knockout genotype resulted in the rescue of the fertility and the disappearance of the masculinized gonadic features of the females, demonstrating the functionality of the goat protein in a mouse context. On the contrary, over-expression of gRSPO1 within a mSRY or a gSRY-XX genotypes did not interfere with the SRY-induced male phenotype.

The R-spondin (Rspo) proteins constitute a novel class of ligands that induce Wnt signalling. Rspo1 knockout XX mice were previously shown to be sex-reversed, but some remain sub-fertile. These last were unable to feed their pups for some unknown reason. Using these mice and transplanted mammary tissues from Rspo1−/− virgin mice in nude mice, we report that the lack of Rspo1 expression results in the absence of duct side-branching development and subsequent alveolar formation, explaining the above mentioned phenotype. Our data demonstrate that local epithelial Rspo1 signalling is required for normal development of the mammary gland.

International audience; A medium-density map of the horse genome (Equus caballus) was constructed using genes evenly distributed over the human genome. Three hundred and twenty-three exonic primer pairs were used to screen the INRA and the CHORI-241 equine BAC libraries by polymerase chain reaction and by filter hybridization respectively. Two hundred and thirty-seven BACs containing equine gene orthologues, confirmed by sequencing, were isolated. The BACs were localized to horse chromosomes by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Overall, 165 genes were assigned to the equine genomic map by radiation hybrid (RH) (using an equine RH(5000) panel) and/or by FISH mapping. A comparison of localizations of 713 genes mapped on the horse genome and on the human genome revealed 59 homologous segments and 131 conserved segments. Two of these homologies (ECA27/HSA8 and ECA12p/HSA11p) had not been previously identified. An enhanced resolution of conserved and rearranged chromosomal segments presented in this study provides clarification of chromosome evolution history.