Loss of XLαs (extra-large αs) imprinting results in early postnatal hypoglycemia and lethality in a mouse model of pseudohypoparathyroidism Ib

E Fernández-Rebollo, A Maeda… - Proceedings of the …, 2012 - National Acad Sciences
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012National Acad Sciences
Maternal deletion of the NESP55 differentially methylated region (DMR)(delNESP55/ASdel3-
4m, delNASm) from the GNAS locus in humans causes autosomal dominant
pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (AD-PHP-IbdelNASm), a disorder of proximal tubular
parathyroid hormone (PTH) resistance associated with loss of maternal GNAS methylation
imprints. Mice carrying a similar, maternally inherited deletion of the Nesp55 DMR (ΔNesp55
m) replicate these Gnas epigenetic abnormalities and show evidence for PTH resistance, yet …
Maternal deletion of the NESP55 differentially methylated region (DMR) (delNESP55/ASdel3-4m, delNASm) from the GNAS locus in humans causes autosomal dominant pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (AD-PHP-IbdelNASm), a disorder of proximal tubular parathyroid hormone (PTH) resistance associated with loss of maternal GNAS methylation imprints. Mice carrying a similar, maternally inherited deletion of the Nesp55 DMR (ΔNesp55m) replicate these Gnas epigenetic abnormalities and show evidence for PTH resistance, yet these mice demonstrate 100% mortality during the early postnatal period. We investigated whether the loss of extralarge αs (XLαs) imprinting and the resultant biallelic expression of XLαs are responsible for the early postnatal lethality in ΔNesp55m mice. First, we found that ΔNesp55m mice are hypoglycemic and have reduced stomach-to-body weight ratio. We then generated mice having the same epigenetic abnormalities as the ΔNesp55m mice but with normalized XLαs expression due to the paternal disruption of the exon giving rise to this Gnas product. These mice (ΔNesp55m/Gnasxlm+/p−) showed nearly 100% survival up to postnatal day 10, and a substantial number of them lived to adulthood. The hypoglycemia and reduced stomach-to-body weight ratio observed in 2-d-old ΔNesp55m mice were rescued in the ΔNesp55m/Gnasxlm+/p− mice. Surviving double-mutant animals had significantly reduced Gαs mRNA levels and showed hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, and elevated PTH levels, thus providing a viable model of human AD-PHP-Ib. Our findings show that the hypoglycemia and early postnatal lethality caused by the maternal deletion of the Nesp55 DMR result from biallelic XLαs expression. The double-mutant mice will help elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying AD-PHP-Ib.
National Acad Sciences