UCSF

Atrophins are evolutionarily conserved proteins that are thought to act as transcriptional co-repressors. Mammalian genomes contain two atrophin genes. Dominant polyglutamine-expanded alleles of atrophin 1 have been identified as the cause of dentatorubralpallidoluysian atrophy, an adult-onset human neurodegenerative disease with similarity to Huntington's. In a screen for recessive mutations that disrupt patterning of the early mouse embryo, we identified a line named openmind carrying a mutation in atrophin 2. openmind homozygous; embryos exhibit a variety of patterning defects that first appear at E8.0. Defects include a specific failure in ventralization of the anterior neural plate, loss of heart looping and irregular partitioning of somites. In mutant embryos, Shh expression fails to initiate along the anterior midline at E8.0, and Fgf8 is delocalized from the anterior neural ridge at E8.5, revealing a crucial role for atrophin 2 in the formation and function of these two signaling centers. Atrophin 2 is also required for normal organization of the apical ectodermal ridge, a signaling center that directs limb pattern. Elevated expression of atrophin 2 in neurons suggests it may interact with atrophin 1 in neuronal development or function. We further show that atrophin 2 associates with histone deacetylase 1 in mouse embryos, providing a biochemical link between Atr2 and a chromatin-modifying enzyme. Based on our results, and on those of others, we propose that atrophin proteins act as transcriptional co-repressors during embryonic development.