Brain transcriptome analysis of Myt1l heterozygote mutation mice (RNA-Seq I)

Myt1l is a transcription factor for neuronal induction and maintenance during development and Myt1l is highly implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Myt1l-mutant mice with a heterozygous deletion of exon 9 showed mild autistic-like behaviors (Social deficit and specific repetitive behaviors) and additional behavioral abnormalities including hyperactivity and anxiolytic-like behaviors in adult. To explore the molecular patterns and mechanisms underlying these behavioral abnormalities, we performed RNA-seq analysis of whole brain from wild-type and Myt1l-mutant mice longitudinally from pup stage (~P3) to juvenile (~P21) and adult (~P56) stages. Myt1l-mutant mice showed upregulations of chromosome- and chromatin-related genes and downregulations of synapse- and neurotransmitter-related genes during pup stage. However, from juvenile stage, Myt1l-mutant mice showed upregulations of extracellular matrix- and transporter-related genes and downregulations of mitochondria- and ribosome-related genes. In addition, Myt1l-mutant mice showed pro-ASD transcriptomic patterns on pup stage, but these patterns were reversed toward anti-ASD transcriptomic patterns from juvenile stages to adult stage as compensatory changes likely. These results suggest that the haploinsufficiency of Myt1l acutely alters the transcriptomic pattern into pro-ASD patterns and chronically compensates with the synapse maturation.