Lethality of mice bearing a knockout of the Ngly1-gene is partially rescued by the additional deletion of the Engase gene

PLoS Genet. 2017 Apr 20;13(4):e1006696. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006696. eCollection 2017 Apr.

Abstract

The cytoplasmic peptide:N-glycanase (Ngly1 in mammals) is a de-N-glycosylating enzyme that is highly conserved among eukaryotes. It was recently reported that subjects harboring mutations in the NGLY1 gene exhibited severe systemic symptoms (NGLY1-deficiency). While the enzyme obviously has a critical role in mammals, its precise function remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed Ngly1-deficient mice and found that they are embryonic lethal in C57BL/6 background. Surprisingly, the additional deletion of the gene encoding endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Engase), which is another de-N-glycosylating enzyme but leaves a single GlcNAc at glycosylated Asn residues, resulted in the partial rescue of the lethality of the Ngly1-deficient mice. Additionally, we also found that a change in the genetic background of C57BL/6 mice, produced by crossing the mice with an outbred mouse strain (ICR) could partially rescue the embryonic lethality of Ngly1-deficient mice. Viable Ngly1-deficient mice in a C57BL/6 and ICR mixed background, however, showed a very severe phenotype reminiscent of the symptoms of NGLY1-deficiency subjects. Again, many of those defects were strongly suppressed by the additional deletion of Engase in the C57BL/6 and ICR mixed background. The defects observed in Ngly1/Engase-deficient mice (C57BL/6 background) and Ngly1-deficient mice (C57BL/6 and ICR mixed background) closely resembled some of the symptoms of patients with an NGLY1-deficiency. These observations strongly suggest that the Ngly1- or Ngly1/Engase-deficient mice could serve as a valuable animal model for studies related to the pathogenesis of the NGLY1-deficiency, and that cytoplasmic ENGase represents one of the potential therapeutic targets for this genetic disorder.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cytoplasm / enzymology
  • Genetic Diseases, Inborn / genetics*
  • Genetic Diseases, Inborn / therapy
  • Glycosylation
  • Humans
  • Mannosyl-Glycoprotein Endo-beta-N-Acetylglucosaminidase / genetics*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Models, Animal
  • Peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl) Asparagine Amidase / deficiency*
  • Peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl) Asparagine Amidase / genetics*
  • Peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl) Asparagine Amidase / metabolism
  • Sequence Deletion / genetics

Substances

  • Mannosyl-Glycoprotein Endo-beta-N-Acetylglucosaminidase
  • Peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl) Asparagine Amidase

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by PRESTO/CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (to TS), Center of Excellence Program, Osaka University (to NT and TS), Yamada Science Foundation, Mochida Memorial Foundation for Medical and Pharmaceutical Research, Toray Science Foundation, Grace Science Foundation (to TS), a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (grant no. 26110725) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (to TS) and a grant for Incentive Research Project, RIKEN (to HF). We also would like to express sincere gratitude to Mr. Hiroshi Mikitani (Rakuten Inc.; Tokyo, Japan) for his financial support for Ngly1 research. CH is supported by the RIKEN Foreign Postdoctoral Researcher Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.