PUBLICATION
Zebrafish smoothened functions in ventral neural tube specification and axon tract formation
- Authors
- Varga, Z.M., Amores, A., Lewis, K.E., Yan, Y.-L., Postlethwait, J.H., Eisen, J.S., and Westerfield, M.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-010927-3
- Date
- 2001
- Source
- Development (Cambridge, England) 128(18): 3497-3509 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Amores, Angel, Eisen, Judith S., Lewis, Katharine E., Postlethwait, John H., Varga, Zoltán M., Westerfield, Monte, Yan, Yi-Lin
- Keywords
- hedgehog; forebrain patterning; spinal cord; floor plate; motoneurons; pituitary ventral neural tube; zebrafish
- MeSH Terms
-
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
- Signal Transduction
- Nervous System/cytology
- Nervous System/embryology*
- Transcription Factors/genetics
- Zebrafish/embryology*
- Trans-Activators/metabolism
- Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled*
- Body Patterning*
- Motor Neurons
- Spinal Cord/cytology
- Spinal Cord/embryology
- Hedgehog Proteins
- Mutation
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Prosencephalon/cytology
- Prosencephalon/embryology
- Pituitary Gland, Anterior/cytology
- Pituitary Gland, Anterior/embryology
- Visual Pathways/cytology
- Visual Pathways/embryology
- Animals
- Receptors, Cell Surface/genetics
- Receptors, Cell Surface/metabolism*
- Phenotype
- Retina/cytology
- Retina/embryology
- PubMed
- 11566855 Full text @ Development
Citation
Varga, Z.M., Amores, A., Lewis, K.E., Yan, Y.-L., Postlethwait, J.H., Eisen, J.S., and Westerfield, M. (2001) Zebrafish smoothened functions in ventral neural tube specification and axon tract formation. Development (Cambridge, England). 128(18):3497-3509.
Abstract
Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling patterns many vertebrate tissues. shh mutations dramatically affect mouse ventral forebrain and floor plate but produce minor defects in zebrafish. Zebrafish have two mammalian Shh orthologs, sonic hedgehog and tiggy-winkle hedgehog, and another gene, echidna hedgehog, that could have overlapping functions. To examine the role of Hedgehog signaling in zebrafish, we have characterized slow muscle omitted (smu) mutants. We show that smu encodes a zebrafish ortholog of Smoothened that transduces Hedgehog signals. Zebrafish smoothened is expressed maternally and zygotically and supports specification of motoneurons, pituitary cells and ventral forebrain. We propose that smoothened is required for induction of lateral floor plate and a subpopulation of hypothalamic cells and for maintenance of medial floor plate and hypothalamic cells.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping