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Whole exome sequencing reveals a functional mutation in the GAIN domain of the Bai2 receptor underlying a forward mutagenesis hyperactivity QTL

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Abstract

The identification of novel genes underlying complex mouse behavioral traits remains an important step in understanding normal brain function and its dysfunction in mental health disorders. To identify dominant mutations that influence locomotor activity, we performed a mouse N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) forward mutagenesis screen and mapped several loci as quantitative traits. Here we describe the fine-mapping and positional cloning of a hyperactivity locus mapped to the medial portion of mouse chromosome four. We employed a modified recombinant progeny testing approach to fine-map the confidence interval from ≈20 Mb down to ≈5 Mb. Whole exome resequencing of all exons in this region revealed a single missense mutation in the adhesion G protein-coupled receptor brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor 2 (Bai2). This mutation, R619W, is located in a critical extracellular domain that is a hotspot for mutations in this receptor class. We find that in two different mammalian cell lines, surface expression of Bai2 R619W is markedly reduced relative to wild-type Bai2, suggesting that R619W is a loss-of-function mutation. Our results highlight the powerful combination of ENU mutagenesis and next-generation sequencing to identify specific mutations that manifest as subtle behavioral phenotypes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Colleen Manning and Danielle Mandikian for helpful advice on cell culture experiments and microscopy. Whole exome sequencing was performed at the Broad Center as part of the Mutant Mouse Re-sequencing Project at the Broad Institute (NHGRI). This research was supported by the State of California for medical research on alcohol and substance abuse through the University of California at San Francisco as well as grants from the Department of Defense (DAMD17-01-1-0799, A.S.P.), the NIH (R03-MH108950) and an Innovative Development Award from the U.C. Davis Academic Federation (D.J.S), and a NIH New Director’s Innovator Award Program DP2 OD006479-01 (ED).

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Correspondence to David J. Speca.

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Speca, D.J., Trimmer, J.S., Peterson, A.S. et al. Whole exome sequencing reveals a functional mutation in the GAIN domain of the Bai2 receptor underlying a forward mutagenesis hyperactivity QTL. Mamm Genome 28, 465–475 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-017-9716-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-017-9716-5

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