C3H/HeJ-Clic5^jbg/J

Stock number: 004965
Product name: jitterbug
Research areas: Cardiovascular Research, Endocrine Deficiency Research, Internal/Organ Research, Metabolism Research, Neurobiology Research, Sensorineural Research

Description

Mice homozygous for the jitterbug mutation have stereocilia degeneration that results in vestibular dysfunction and impaired hearing, a metabolic disorder with increased peripheral metabolism, increased leptin, insulin and glucose levels, in addition to abnormal podocyte morphology.

Detailed description

The jitterbug mutation is a 97 bp intragenic deletion that causes skipping of exon 5, which creates a translational frame shift and premature stop codon that is a null allele for both transcripts. CLIC5 protein is absent in tissues of homozygous mutant mice. Homozygotes are viable and fertile, but display head bobbing and circling behavior and the inability to right themselves in water. Histological analysis of mutant inner ears revealed dysmorphic stereocilia and progressive hair cell degeneration although stereocilia appear to develop normally. ABR thresholds are elevated to 40-50 dB above normal at 1-5 months of age and deafness is indicated by 7 months of age. Scanning electron micrographs from 3-day-old homozygotes showed normal cochlear hair bundle orientation and morphology and nearly normal stereocilia, but subsequently stereocilia degeneration begins in the outer hair cells then progresses to inner hair cells. Radixin immunostaining appears reduced in hair bundles of jitterbug mutant mice.(Gagnon et al., 2006)

CLIC5 expression is enriched podocytes and localizes to the apical and basal membranes and areas proximal to slit diaphragms. It associates with ezrin/radixin/moesin complex and podocalyxin and is essential for proper podocyte foot process integrity. Clic5^jbg homozygotes were found to develop proteinuria (Pierchala et al., 2010) and microalbuminuria (Wegner et al., 2010).

Assessing Clic5^jbg homozygotes on a mixed C3H/HeJ x C57BL/6J background, Bradford et al. found a minor reduction in gastric acid secretion but a high proportion responded to fasting with gastric hemorrhaging and accompanying rapid loss of body weight, and decrease in body temperature and heart rate. They reported that homozygotes are hyperactive, smaller and leaner than normal, and males were found to be highly aggressive. Homozygotes consume more food than controls but have reduced body fat, especially in males, despite normal fat absorption across the intestine. Females were found to be resistant to the usual weight gain when on a high fat diet. Non-fasting plasma leptin, insulin, and glucose levels were found to be dramatically reduced and leptin levels remained low even on a high fat diet. Consistent with this, homozygotes were found to have an increased peripheral metabolism particularly during the dark cycle. White blood cell counts also found a reduction in neutrophils, eosinophils and monocytes.

Development

The jitterbug mutation arose spontaneously on the C3H/HeJ inbred background at The Jackson Laboratory and was backcrossed once to C3H/HeJ before being maintained by sibling intercrossing. Embryos coisogenic on C3H/HeJ were generated for cryopreservation from C3H/HeJ females bred to homozygous males at generation N1F10.

Allele

Symbol: Clic5^jbg
Name: jitterbug
MGI accession ID: MGI:3663254
Generation method: Spontaneous
Attributes: Null/Knockout
Marker symbol: Clic5
Marker name: chloride intracellular channel 5
Chromosome: 17
Strain of origin: C3H/HeJ
Molecular note: A 97 base pair deletion, including the 3'-most 87 base pairs of exon 5 and 10 base pairs of the flanking intron sequence including the exon/intron splice donor recognition sequence, results in a frame shift and premature stop codon in both Clic5A and Clic5B transcripts, effectively resulting in a null mutation of both transcripts.