Hydrocephalus is a common and variegated pathology often emerging in newborn children after genotoxic insults during pregnancy (Hicks and D'Amato, 1980). Cre recombinase is known to have possible toxic effects that can compromise normal cell cycle and survival. Here we show, by using three independent nestin Cre transgenic lines, that high levels of Cre recombinase expression into the nucleus of neuronal progenitors can compromise normal brain development. The transgenics analyzed are the nestin Cre Balancer (Bal1) line, expressing the Cre recombinase with a nuclear localization signal, and two nestin CreER T2 (Cre recombinase fused with a truncated estrogen receptor) mice lines with different levels of expression of a hybrid CreER T2 recombinase that translocates into the nucleus after tamoxifen treatment. All homozygous Bal1 nestin Cre embryos displayed reduced neuronal proliferation, increased aneuploidy and cell death, as well as defects in ependymal lining and lamination of the cortex, leading to microencephaly and to a form of communicating hydrocephalus. An essentially overlapping phenotype was observed in the two nestin CreER T2 transgenic lines after tamoxifen mediatedCreER T2 translocation into the nucleus. Neither tamoxifen-treated wild-type nor nestin CreER T2 oil-treated control mice displayed these defects. These results indicate that some forms of hydrocephalus may derive from a defect in neuronal precursors proliferation. Furthermore, they underscore the potential risks for developmental studies of high levels of nuclear Cre in neurogenic cells.

Dendritic spines are highly dynamic protuberances that are thought to be crucial for learning and memory. Although it is well known that actin filaments and membrane dynamics regulate spine plasticity, how these two events are linked locally is less clear. Here, we provide evidence that Citron-N (CIT-N), a binding partner of the small GTPase RhoA, is associated with the actin filaments and Golgi compartments of dendritic spines. We also show that CIT-N is required for recruiting F-actin and Golgi membranes at spines of in vitro-grown neurons. Studies in knockout mice show that this protein is essential for the maturation of dendritic spines. We suggest that CIT-N might function as a scaffold protein in spine organization through its ability to bind to Golgi membranes and by affecting actin remodelling.

Even though several studies highlighted the role of maternal thyroid hormones (THs) during embryo–foetal development, direct evidence of their interaction with embryonic thyroid receptors (TRs) is still lacking. We generated a transgenic mouse model ubiquitously expressing a reporter gene tracing TH action during development. We engineered a construct (TRE2×) containing two TH-responsive elements controlling the expression of the LacZ reporter gene, which encodes β-galactosidase (β-gal). The specificity of the TRE2× activation by TH was evaluated in NIH3T3 cells by cotransfecting TRE2× along with TRs, retinoic or oestrogen receptors in the presence of their specific ligands. TRE2× transgene was microinjected into the zygotes, implanted in pseudopregnant BDF1 (a first-generation (F1) hybrid from a cross of C57BL/6 female and a DBA/2 male) mice and transgenic mouse models were developed. β-gal expression was assayed in tissue sections of transgenic mouse embryos at different stages of development. In vitro, TRE2× transactivation was observed only following physiological T3 stimulation, mediated exclusively by TRs. In vivo, β-gal staining, absent until embryonic day 9.5–10.5 (E9.5–E10.5), was observed as early as E11.5–E12.5 in different primordia (i.e. central nervous system, sense organs, intestine, etc.) of the TRE2× transgenic embryos, while the foetal thyroid function (FTF) was still inactive. Immunohistochemistry for TRs essentially colocalized with β-gal staining. No β-gal staining was detected in embryos of hypothyroid transgenic mice. Importantly, treatment with T3 in hypothyroid TRE2× transgenic mice rescued β-gal expression. Our results provide in vivo direct evidence that during embryonic life and before the onset of FTF, maternal THs are transcriptionally active through the action of embryonic TRs. This model may have clinical relevance and may be employed to design end-point assays for new molecules affecting THs action.

Citron kinase (CIT-K), a ser/thr kinase, is required during neurogenesis for cytokinesis of neuronal precursors. Deletion of the cit-k gene in mice (cit-k(-/-) mice) leads to a severe malformative central nervous system syndrome characterized by microencephaly, ataxia, and epileptic seizures; affected mice die by the third week of postnatal life. We have used NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry, immunostaining for calbindin, calretinin, parvalbumin, and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67), and histological staining to undertake qualitative and quantitative analyses of the morphology and distribution of interneurons in the barrelfield cortex of cit-k(-/-) mice. By postnatal day 13, lack of CIT-K results in profoundly altered cortical cell morphology: the infragranular layers are populated by large, binucleate interneurons bearing many more dendrites than in control mice, an anatomical profile that has also been reported for the cortex of humans with cortical dysplasias and epilepsy. Tessellation analyses reveal that a clustered distribution of interneurons is maintained in cit-k(-/-) mice, but that their nearest neighbor distance is significantly increased, and thus their density is reduced; the overall number of interneurons is more dramatically decreased in the absence of CIT-K than would be predicted on the basis of the reduced brain size of affected mice. This reduction of inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic neurons likely underlies the occurrence of epileptic seizures in the cit-k(-/-) mice. Furthermore, the altered distribution of NADPH-diaphorase-positive interneurons could be responsible for an impaired coupling of cortical activity to blood flow, also affecting cortical growth and functioning.

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