Lamin B1 is essential for neuronal migration and progenitor proliferation during the development of the cerebral cortex. The observation of distinct phenotypes of Lmnb1- and Lmnb2-knockout mice and the differences in the nuclear morphology of cortical neurons in vivo suggest that lamin B1 and lamin B2 play distinct functions in the developing brain.

Progerias are rare genetic diseases characterized by premature aging. Several progeroid disorders are caused by mutations that lead to the accumulation of a lipid-modified (farnesylated) form of prelamin A, a protein that contributes to the structural scaffolding for the cell nucleus. In progeria, the accumulation of farnesyl-prelamin A disrupts this scaffolding, leading to misshapen nuclei. Previous studies have shown that farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) reverse this cellular abnormality. We tested the efficacy of an FTI (ABT-100) in Zmpste24-deficient mice, a mouse model of progeria. The FTI-treated mice exhibited improved body weight, grip strength, bone integrity, and percent survival at 20 weeks of age. These results suggest that FTIs may have beneficial effects in humans with progeria.

Lamins A and C, alternatively spliced products of the LMNA gene, are key components of the nuclear lamina. The two isoforms are found in similar amounts in most tissues, but we observed an unexpected pattern of expression in the brain. Western blot and immunohistochemistry studies showed that lamin C is abundant in the mouse brain, whereas lamin A and its precursor prelamin A are restricted to endothelial cells and meningeal cells and are absent in neurons and glia. Prelamin A transcript levels were low in the brain, but this finding could not be explained by alternative splicing. In lamin Aonly knockin mice, where alternative splicing is absent and all the output of the gene is channeled into prelamin A transcripts, large amounts of lamin A were found in peripheral tissues, but there was very little lamin A in the brain. Also, in knockin mice expressing exclusively progerin (a toxic form of prelamin A found in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome), the levels of progerin in the brain were extremely low. Further studies showed that prelamin A expression, but not lamin C expression, is down-regulated by a brain-specific microRNA, miR-9. Expression of miR-9 in cultured cells reduced lamin A expression, and this effect was abolished when the miR-9-binding site in the prelamin A 3′ UTR was mutated. The down-regulation of prelamin A expression in the brain could explain why mouse models of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome are free of central nervous system pathology.

Nuclear lamins are components of the nuclear lamina, a structural scaffolding for the cell nucleus. Defects in lamins A and C cause an array of human diseases, including muscular dystrophy, lipodystrophy, and progeria, but no diseases have been linked to the loss of lamins B1 or B2. To explore the functional relevance of lamin B2, we generated lamin B2-deficient mice and found that they have severe brain abnormalities resembling lissencephaly, with abnormal layering of neurons in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum. This neuronal layering abnormality is due to defective neuronal migration, a process that is dependent on the organized movement of the nucleus within the cell. These studies establish an essential function for lamin B2 in neuronal migration and brain development.brain | lissencephaly | neuronal migration | nuclear envelope | nuclear lamina T he nuclear lamina is an intermediate filament meshwork lying beneath the inner nuclear membrane that provides a structural scaffolding for the nucleus (1). The lamina is also important for other processes, including gene transcription, chromatin organization, nuclear pore distribution, nuclear envelope assembly, and tethering of the nucleus to the cytoskeleton (1, 2). The main components of the nuclear lamina are nuclear lamins, a class of intermediate filament proteins that is generally divided into two groups, A-type (lamins A and C) and B-type (lamins B1 and B2) (3, 4). Lamins A and C are produced from LMNA by alternative splicing, whereas lamins B1 and B2 are encoded by distinct genes, LMNB1 and LMNB2, respectively. Lamins B1 and B2 are expressed in all cells and throughout development, whereas lamins A and C are expressed in differentiated cells, beginning at midgestation (3).Interest in the nuclear lamins has intensified with the discovery that over a dozen human diseases, including muscular dystrophy, cardiomyopathy, lipodystrophy, and progeria, are caused by mutations in LMNA (5-7). To date, more than 340 missense, nonsense, frameshift, and splicing mutations have been identified (5). In contrast, no human diseases have been linked to these types of mutations in LMNB1 and LMNB2, and, so far, the only clear-cut association between B-type lamins and disease has been the finding of LMNB1 gene duplications in autosomal-dominant leukodystrophy (8).The paucity of "lamin B diseases" is probably not due to complete redundancy of lamins B1 and B2, as Lmnb1-deficient mice are small during embryonic development and die soon after birth with defects in lungs and bones (9). Also, Lmnb1-deficient fibroblasts display misshapen cell nuclei, aneuploidy, and early senescence (9). To further examine the functional importance of the B-type lamins, we generated Lmnb2-deficient mice.

Formation of tubular structures from an epithelial tissue is a process common to many morphogenetic events during organogenesis. We report here new data concerning the expression pattern of the vHNF1/HNF1beta gene during this process in the mouse. vHNF1 (variant Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1) is a member of the HNF1 homeoprotein family. Its expression domain includes organs such as the liver, the kidney, the lung and the pancreas, but is restricted to the epithelial cells of these organs. To follow vHNF1 expression during organogenesis, we have introduced a NLS-lacZ gene under the control of vHNF1 regulatory regions by homologous recombination. Detection of the beta-galactosidase activity in heterozygous mice demonstrates that this gene is expressed in numerous tubular epitheliums as soon as they appear and all along development.

SUMMARY Vertebrate Crossveinless-2 (CV2) is a secreted protein that can potentiate or antagonize BMP signaling. Through embryological and biochemical experiments we find that: 1) CV2 functions as a BMP4 feedback inhibitor in ventral regions of the Xenopus embryo; 2) CV2 complexes with Twisted gastrulation and BMP4; 3) CV2 is not a substrate for tolloid proteinases; 4) CV2 binds to purified Chordin protein with high affinity (KD in the 1 nM range); 5) CV2 binds even more strongly to Chordin proteolytic fragments resulting from Tolloid digestion or to full-length Chordin/BMP complexes; 6) CV2 depletion causes the Xenopus embryo to become hypersensitive to the anti-BMP effects of Chordin overexpression or tolloid inhibition. We propose that the CV2/Chordin interaction may help coordinate BMP diffusion to the ventral side of the embryo, ensuring that BMPs liberated from Chordin inhibition by tolloid proteolysis cause peak signaling levels.

HIV protease inhibitors (HIV-PIs

Human geneticists have shown that some progeroid syndromes are caused by mutations that interfere with the conversion of farnesyl-prelamin A to mature lamin A. For example, Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome is caused by LMNA mutations that lead to the accumulation of a farnesylated version of prelamin A. In this review, we discuss the posttranslational modifications of prelamin A and their relevance to the pathogenesis and treatment of progeroid syndromes.