Abstract
Williams syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the hemizygous deletion of 1.6 Mb on human chromosome 7q11.23. This region comprises the gene CYLN2, encoding CLIP-115, a microtubule-binding protein of 115 kD. Using a gene-targeting approach, we provide evidence that mice with haploinsufficiency for Cyln2 have features reminiscent of Williams syndrome, including mild growth deficiency, brain abnormalities, hippocampal dysfunction and particular deficits in motor coordination. Absence of CLIP-115 also leads to increased levels of CLIP-170 (a closely related cytoplasmic linker protein) and dynactin at the tips of growing microtubules. This protein redistribution may affect dynein motor regulation and, together with the loss of CLIP-115–specific functions, underlie neurological alterations in Williams syndrome.
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Change history
22 August 2002
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank G. van Cappellen for his help with the quantification of the fluorescence data and live imaging analysis, M. Rutteman for x-gal staining experiments and A. Langeveld for FISH experiments. This research was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW).
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Hoogenraad, C., Koekkoek, B., Akhmanova, A. et al. Targeted mutation of Cyln2 in the Williams syndrome critical region links CLIP-115 haploinsufficiency to neurodevelopmental abnormalities in mice. Nat Genet 32, 116–127 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng954
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng954
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