Defective adgra2 (gpr124) splicing and function in zebrafish ouchless mutants

A hitherto unidentified N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU)-induced mutation affects dorsal root ganglia (DRG) formation in ouchless mutant zebrafish larvae. In contrast to previous findings assigning the ouchless phenotypes to downregulated sorbs3 transcript levels, this work re-attributes the phenotypes to an essential splice site mutation affecting adgra2 (gpr124) splicing and function. Accordingly, ouchless mutants fail to complement previously characterized adgra2 mutants and exhibit highly penetrant cerebrovascular defects. The aberrantly spliced adgra2 transcript found in ouchless mutants encodes a receptor lacking a single leucine-rich repeat (LRR) within its N-terminus.