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Normal brain development in importin-α5 deficient-mice

Nature Cell Biology volume 9, pages 1337–1338 (2007)Cite this article

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From these data we conclude that the absence of importin-α5 during mouse development does not significantly interfere with neuronal differentiation and brain development, in contrast to the prediction of the cell-culture-based study. It is surprising that Impα5−/− mice display no obvious changes in phenotype, as its homologue, SRP1p, is the only α-importin in S. cerevisiae and is essential in this species. Furthermore, lack of importin-α5 homologues in invertebrates causes severe phenotypes2. Notably, we detected a marked upregulation of importin-α4 (Kpna3) in the brain of Impα5−/− mice (Fig. 1c). Thus, counter-regulation of α-importin isoforms and overlapping cargo specificities may compensate for the lack of a single isoform in vivo in mammals.

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Figure 1: Absence of importin-α5 mRNA and protein in tissues of importin α5−/− mice.
Figure 2: (a, b) Histopathologic analysis (Nissl) of adult female mouse brains (control, +/+, n = 6; Impα5−/−, −/−, n = 4) revealed almost identical anatomical structures in wild type as well as in knock-out animals with well developed cortex, white matter, large grey nuclei, hippocampus and ventricles.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Tanja Schalow for excellent technical assistance and the German Gene Trap Consortium (http://tikus.gsf.de) for the embryonic stem cells. This work was supported by grants of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (KO 1950/3-1) and the European Union (NEST 12702).

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  1. Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, Berlin-Buch, D-13125, Germany

    Tatjana Shmidt, Franziska Hampich, Michael Ridders, Stefanie Schultrich, Katja Tenner, Larissa Vilianovich, Fatimunnisa Qadri, Natalia Alenina & Michael Bader

  2. Institute for Biology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, Lübeck, D-23538, Germany

    Michael Ridders, Stefanie Schultrich & Enno Hartmann

  3. Institute for Neuropathology, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld, Remterweg 2, Bielefeld, D-33617, Germany

    Volkmar H. Hans

  4. D-24351 Damp and Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Center for Nephrology and Hypertension, Ostsee Clinic and Reha Clinic Damp, Seute-Deern-Ring 30, University of Kiel, Schittenhelmstr. 12, D-24105, Germany

    Matthias Köhler

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Shmidt, T., Hampich, F., Ridders, M. et al. Normal brain development in importin-α5 deficient-mice. Nat Cell Biol 9, 1337–1338 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb1207-1337

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