Dicer is a central enzyme in microRNA (miRNA) processing. We identified a Dicer-independent miRNA biogenesis pathway that uses Argonaute2 (Ago2) slicer catalytic activity. In contrast to other miRNAs, miR-451 levels were refractory to dicer loss of function but were reduced in MZago2 (maternal-zygotic) mutants. We found that pre-miR-451 processing requires Ago2 catalytic activity in vivo. MZago2 mutants showed delayed erythropoiesis that could be rescued by wild-type Ago2 or miR-451-duplex but not by catalytically dead Ago2. Changing the secondary structure of Dicer-dependent miRNAs to mimic that of pre-miR-451 restored miRNA function and rescued developmental defects in MZdicer mutants, indicating that the pre-miRNA secondary structure determines the processing pathway in vivo. We propose that Ago2-mediated cleavage of pre-miRNAs, followed by uridylation and trimming, generates functional miRNAs independently of Dicer.

Glycogen synthesis is normally absent in neurons. However, inclusion bodies resembling abnormal glycogen accumulate in several neurological diseases, particularly in progressive myoclonus epilepsy or Lafora disease. We show here that mouse neurons have the enzymatic machinery for synthesizing glycogen, but that it is suppressed by retention of muscle glycogen synthase (MGS) in the phosphorylated, inactive state. This suppression was further ensured by a complex of laforin and malin, which are the two proteins whose mutations cause Lafora disease. The laforin-malin complex caused proteasome-dependent degradation both of the adaptor protein targeting to glycogen, PTG, which brings protein phosphatase 1 to MGS for activation, and of MGS itself. Enforced expression of PTG led to glycogen deposition in neurons and caused apoptosis. Therefore, the malin-laforin complex ensures a blockade of neuronal glycogen synthesis even under intense glycogenic conditions. Here we explain the formation of polyglucosan inclusions in Lafora disease by demonstrating a crucial role for laforin and malin in glycogen synthesis.

Engineered zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) enable targeted genome modification. Here we describe Context-Dependent Assembly (CoDA), a platform for engineering ZFNs using only standard cloning techniques or custom DNA synthesis. Using CoDA ZFNs, we rapidly altered 20 genes in zebrafish, Arabidopsis, and soybean. The simplicity and efficacy of CoDA will enable broad adoption of ZFN technology and make possible large-scale projects focused on multi-gene pathways or genome-wide alterations.

Summary Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of devastating neurodevelopmental syndromes that affect up to 1 in 68 children. Despite advances in the identification of ASD risk genes, the mechanisms underlying ASD remain unknown. Homozygous loss-of-function mutations in Contactin Associated Protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) are strongly linked to ASD. Here we investigate the function of Cntnap2 and undertake pharmacological screens to identify phenotypic suppressors. We find that zebrafish cntnap2 mutants display GABAergic deficits particularly in the forebrain and sensitivity to drug-induced seizures. High-throughput behavioral profiling identifies nighttime hyperactivity in cntnap2 mutants, while pharmacological testing reveals dysregulation of GABAergic and glutamatergic systems. Finally, we find that estrogen receptor agonists elicit a behavioral fingerprint anti-correlative to that of cntnap2 mutants and show that the phytoestrogen biochanin A specifically reverses the mutant behavioral phenotype. These results identify estrogenic compounds as phenotypic suppressors and illuminate novel pharmacological pathways with relevance to autism.