Int. J. Dev. Biol. 55: 989 - 993 (2011)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.113437ld

Vol 55, Issue 10-11-12

Cloning and developmental expression of zebrafish pdzrn3

Developmental Expression Pattern | Published: 15 December 2011

Luciana Dente¹, Gaia Gestri², Michael Tsang³, Tetsuhiro Kudoh³, Stephen W. Wilson², Igor B. Dawid³ and Massimiliano Andreazzoli*^,1

¹Department of Biology, Universita’ di Pisa, Italy, ²Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, UK and ³Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, NICHD, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA

Abstract

Pdzrn3, a member of the PDZRN/SEMCAP/LNX protein family containing a RING finger and two PDZ domains, has been implicated in myoblast and osteoblast differentiation. However, its spatio-temporal expression pattern during embryonic development has not been defined. Here, we describe the cloning and expression pattern of pdzrn3 during zebrafish development. We found that in addition to being expressed in several mesodermal structures, this gene displays specific expression in the central nervous system including rhombomere 1, ventral retina, thalamus and motor neurons, indicating a novel function during neural development. In particular, the absence of expression of pdzrn3 in the ventral retina of noi mutant fish suggests a possible role for this gene in regulating fasciculation and/or navigation of retinal ganglion cell axons.

Keywords

PDZRN protein, PDZ domain, RING finger, zebrafish development, ventral retina