School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, The Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, China; Department of Ophthalmology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA.
The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, 04609, USA; College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA.
Exp Eye Res. 2019 Feb;179:106-114. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2018.11.010. Epub 2018 Nov 13.
The Cacna1f gene encodes the α1F subunit of an L-type voltage-gated calcium channel, Cav1.4. In photoreceptor synaptic terminals, Cav1.4 channels mediate glutamate release and postsynaptic responses associated with visual signal transmission. We have discovered a new Cacna1f mutation in nob9 mice, which display more severe phenotypes than do nob2 mice. To characterize the nob9 phenotype at different ages, we examined the murine fundus, applied retinal optical coherence tomography, measured flash electroretinograms (ERGs) in vivo, and analyzed the retinal histology in vitro. After identifying the X-linked recessive inheritance trait, we sequenced Cacna1f as the candidate gene. Mutations in this gene were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and confirmed by restriction fragment length polymorphism. Morphologically, an early-onset of retinal disorder was detected, and the degeneration of the outer plexiform layers progressed rapidly. Moreover, the mutant mice showed drastically reduced scotopic ERGs with increasing age. In 14-month-old nob9 retinas, immunostaining of cone opsins demonstrated a reduction in the number of short-wavelength opsins (S-opsins) to 54% of wild-type levels, and almost no middle-wavelength opsins (M-opsins) were observed. No cone ERGs could be detected from residual cones, in which S-opsins abnormally migrated to inner segments of the photoreceptors. The mutations of the Cacna1f gene in nob9 mice involved both a single nucleotide G to A transition and a 10-nucleotide insertion, the latter resulting in a frame-shift mutation in exon 14.
Cacna1f 基因编码 L 型电压门控钙通道 Cav1.4 的 α1F 亚基。在光感受器突触末梢,Cav1.4 通道介导谷氨酸释放和与视觉信号转导相关的突触后反应。我们在 nob9 小鼠中发现了一个新的 Cacna1f 突变,其表型比 nob2 小鼠更严重。为了在不同年龄阶段表征 nob9 表型,我们检查了小鼠眼底,应用视网膜光学相干断层扫描,测量了活体闪光视网膜电图(ERG),并在体外分析了视网膜组织学。在确定 X 连锁隐性遗传特征后,我们将 Cacna1f 作为候选基因进行测序。通过聚合酶链反应(PCR)检测到该基因突变,并通过限制性片段长度多态性进行了确认。形态上,检测到视网膜疾病的早期发作,外丛状层的退化迅速进展。此外,随着年龄的增长,突变小鼠的暗视 ERG 明显减少。在 14 个月大的 nob9 视网膜中,视锥蛋白免疫染色显示短波长视锥蛋白(S-opsins)的数量减少到野生型水平的 54%,几乎观察不到中波长视锥蛋白(M-opsins)。在残留的视锥细胞中,无法检测到视锥 ERG,其中 S-opsins异常迁移到光感受器的内节。 nob9 小鼠 Cacna1f 基因突变涉及单个核苷酸 G 到 A 的转换和 10 个核苷酸的插入,后者导致 14 号外显子的移码突变。