AUTHOR=Liu Bowen , Zhao Sen , Yan Zihui , Zhao Lina , Lin Jiachen , Wang Shengru , Niu Yuchen , Li Xiaoxin , Qiu Guixing , Deciphering Disorders Involving Scoliosis and COmorbidities (DISCO) study , Zhang Terry Jianguo , Wu Zhihong , Wu Nan TITLE=Variants Affecting the C-Terminal of CSF1R Cause Congenital Vertebral Malformation Through a Gain-of-Function Mechanism JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.641133 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2021.641133 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=

CSF1R encodes the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor which regulates the proliferation, differentiation, and biological activity of monocyte/macrophage lineages. Pathogenic variants in CSF1R could lead to autosomal dominant adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia or autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasia. In this study, we identified three heterozygous deleterious rare variants in CSF1R from a congenital vertebral malformation (CVM) cohort. All of the three variants are located within the carboxy-terminal region of CSF1R protein and could lead to an increased stability of the protein. Therefore, we established a zebrafish model overexpressing CSF1R. The zebrafish model exhibits CVM phenotypes such as hemivertebral and vertebral fusion. Furthermore, overexpression of the mutated CSF1R mRNA depleted of the carboxy-terminus led to a higher proportion of zebrafish with vertebral malformations than wild-type CSF1R mRNA did (p = 0.03452), implicating a gain-of-function effect of the C-terminal variant. In conclusion, variants affecting the C-terminal of CSF1R could cause CVM though a potential gain-of-function mechanism.