GSE168366
p53 ablation fails to completely rescue microcephaly caused by impaired minor intron splicing
Mutations in the minor spliceosome components such as RNU4atac, a small nuclear RNA (snRNA), are linked to primary microcephaly. We have reported that in the conditional knockout (cKO) mice for Rnu11, a minor spliceosome snRNA, minor intron splicing defect in minor intron-containing genes (MIGs) regulating cell cycle resulted in cell cycle defect with a concomitant increase in yH2aX+ cells and P53-mediated apoptosis. Trp53 ablation in the Rnu11 cKO mice did not prevent microcephaly. Although RNAseq analysis of the double knockout (dKO) pallium reflected transcriptomic shift towards the control from the cKO. We found elevated minor intron retention and alternative splicing across minor introns in the dKO. Disruption of these minor intron-containing genes (MIGs) resulted in cell cycle defect that was detected earlier and was more severe in the dKO, but with delayed detection of yH2aX+ DNA damage. Thus, P53 might also play a role in causing DNA damage in the developing pallium. In all, our findings further refine our understanding of the role of the minor spliceosome in cortical development and identify MIGs underpinning microcephaly in minor spliceosome-related disease. Overall design: Total mRNA profiles of pallia from E13.5 (n=4) control, Rnu11 cKO, and Rnu11::Trp53 dKO embryos through TruSeq stranded total RNA prep followed by Illumina NextSeq500 with high output.