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Expression analyses of PLEKHG2, a Rho family-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor, during mouse brain development

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Abstract

Abnormalities of PLEKHG2 gene, encoding a Rho family-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor, are involved in microcephaly with intellectual disability. However, not only the role of PLEKHG2 in the developmental process but also its expression profile is unknown. In this study, we prepared a specific antibody against PLEKHG2 and carried out expression analyses with mouse tissues. In western blotting, PLEKHG2 exhibited a tissue-dependent expression profile in adult mouse and was expressed in a developmental stage-dependent manner in brain. Then, in immunohistochemical analyses, while PLEKHG2 was observed in the cortical plate and ventricular zone surface of the cerebral cortex at embryonic day 14, it came to be distributed throughout the cerebral cortex in layer II/III and V during corticogenesis. PLEKHG2 was also detected mainly in the nucleus of neurons in the hippocampal CA regions and dentate gyrus at P7. Notably, the nuclear accumulation disappeared at P30 and PLEKHG2 came to be located at the axons and/or dendrites at this time point. Moreover, in vitro immunofluorescence revealed that PLEKHG2 was at least partially localized at both excitatory and inhibitory synapses in primary cultured hippocampal neurons. These results suggest roles of PLEKHG2 in the development of the central nervous tissue and synaptic function.

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Abbreviations

RhoGEF:

Rho family small GTPases-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor

PLEKHG2:

Pleckstrin homology and RhoGEF domain containing G2

ID:

Intellectual disability

MBP:

Maltose-binding protein

aa:

Amino acids

SDS:

Sodium dodecyl sulfate

div:

Days in vitro

CP:

Cortical plate

VZ:

Ventricular zone

SVZ:

Subventricular zone

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mses. Noriko Kawamura and Nobuko Hane for technical assistance. This work was supported in part by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (Grant No. 23590124) and a grant-in-aid of the Practical Research Project for Rare/Intractable Diseases from Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) (15ek0109040h0002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Developmental Disability Center, 713-8 Kamiya, Kasugai, 480-0392, Japan

    Masashi Nishikawa, Hidenori Ito, Mariko Noda, Nanako Hamada, Hidenori Tabata & Koh-ichi Nagata

  2. Department of Neurochemistry, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan

    Koh-ichi Nagata

Authors
  1. Masashi Nishikawa
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  2. Hidenori Ito
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  3. Mariko Noda
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  4. Nanako Hamada
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  5. Hidenori Tabata
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  6. Koh-ichi Nagata
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Contributions

M.Ni. prepared anti-PLEKHG2 and performed biochemical and immunohistochemical analyses. H.I. carried out Immunofluorescence analyses. M.No. performed biochemical fractionation. N.H. and H.T. supervised immunohistochemical analyses and helped with the interpretation of the data. K.N. designed and made RNAi- and expression-vectors. K.N. conceived and designed the experiment, and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Koh-ichi Nagata.

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Nishikawa, M., Ito, H., Noda, M. et al. Expression analyses of PLEKHG2, a Rho family-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor, during mouse brain development. Med Mol Morphol 54, 146–155 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00795-020-00275-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00795-020-00275-1

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