Epigenetic mechanism causes Wnt9b deficiency and nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate in the A/WySn mouse strain

• Published in: Birth defects research. A Clinical and molecular teratology Vol. 100; no. 10; p. 772
• Main Authors: Juriloff, Diana M, Harris, Muriel J, Mager, Dixie L, Gagnier, Liane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.10.2014
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Base Sequence; Cleft Lip - genetics; Cleft Palate - genetics; DNA Methylation - genetics; DNA Methylation - physiology; Embryo, Mammalian - embryology; Embryo, Mammalian - ultrastructure; Genes, Intracisternal A-Particle - genetics; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Mutant Strains; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Molecular Sequence Data; Organic Chemicals; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Wnt Proteins - deficiency; genetic; cleft lip; mouse; epigenetic; methylation; metastable epiallele; Wnt9b; retrotransposon
• ISSN: 1542-0760
• DOI: 10.1002/bdra.23320

The heritable multifactorial etiology of human nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL ± P) is not understood. CL ± P occurs in 15% of neonates in the homozygous A/WySn mouse strain, with a multifactorial genetic etiology, the clf1 and clf2 variant genes. Clf1 acts as a mutant allele of Wnt9b but its coding sequence is normal. An IAP (intracisternal A particle) retrotransposon inserted near the Wnt9b gene is associated with clf1. Transcription of noncoding sequence between the IAP and the Wnt9b gene was examined in A/WySn embryos. The levels of Wnt9b transcript and of an "IAP antisense" transcript initiated in the IAP and extending into the noncoding interval were assayed in A/WySn and C57BL/6J whole embryos or heads across embryonic days 8 to 12. Methylation of the 5' LTR of the IAP was examined in E12 A/WySn embryo heads. Mean Wnt9b transcript levels were lower in A/WySn than in C57BL/6J at all ages examined and lower in CL ± P embryos than in their normal littermates. The "IAP antisense" transcript was found in all A/WySn embryos and was highest in CL ± P embryos. The IAP at Wnt9b was generally unmethylated in CL ± P embryos and approximately 50% methylated in normal littermates. The clf1 mutation in A/WySn is a "metastable epiallele", in which stochastic deficiency in some individuals of DNA methylation of a retrotransposon uniquely inserted near the Wnt9b gene allows transcriptional activity of the retrotransposon and interference with transcription from Wnt9b. Methylation of metastable epialleles should be investigated in human nonsyndromic CL ± P.