Fig. 5: Ddx3x mediates a female bias in ribosome biogenesis.
From: Sex-specific perturbations of neuronal development caused by mutations in the autism risk gene DDX3X
A–E Ddx3x regulates ribosome dynamics in CTIP2-expressing cortical neurons. A Confocal images of layer V from the developing primary motor cortex of Sox2-Ddx3x+/+ (black), Sox2-Ddx3x+/- (purple), and Sox2-Ddx3x+/y (gray) neonate immunostained for CTIP2 (green), rRNA (magenta, Y10b antibody58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65), and Hoechst (blue). Scale bar, 5 μm. B, C The plots show the percentage of rRNA in cytoplasm (pink) or nucleus (yellow) over the total rRNA in CTIP2+ (B) or CTIP2- (C) cells. D–E The plots show the cytoplasmic, nuclear, and total levels of rRNA (as mean Y10b immunofluorescence) in CTIP2+ (D) or CTIP2- (E) cells. F–H Ddx3x regulates nucleolar properties in CTIP2-expressing cortical neurons. Representative image of layer V in the developing primary motor cortex from Sox2-Ddx3x+/+, Sox2-Ddx3x+/-, and Sox2-Ddx3x+/y neonates stained for Hoechst (blue), CTIP2 (green), fibrillarin (FBL, red). White arrowheads, example of CTIP2+ neurons; yellow arrowheads, example of CTIP2- cells. Scale bar, 5 μm. G–H Empirical cumulative distribution function of the nucleoli volume (G) and sum volume of all the nucleoli per cell (H). I The nuclei of CTIP2+ neurons are larger in female neurons, but not if they have Ddx3x monoallelic expression. The plot shows the total nuclear volume per cell. J The number of nucleoli does not differ by genotype. The plot shows the average number of nucleoli per cell. Statistics: Panels B, C, one-way ANOVA, followed by Student’s t test with Benjamini-Hochberg correction; Panel D, E, three-way ANOVA, followed by Student’s t test with Benjamini-Hochberg correction; Panel G, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test; Panels H, I, two-way ANOVA, followed by Student’s t test with Benjamini-Hochberg correction; Panel J, Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by Wilcoxon test with Benjamini-Hochberg correction. In all panels, data were collected blind to genotype and sex; mean ± SEM; outliers shown as ⊗; *P-value < 0.05, **P-value < 0.01, ***P-value < 0.001. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
