Long-Chain Acyl-CoA Synthetase 4A Regulates Smad Activity and Dorsoventral Patterning in the Zebrafish Embryo
- Authors
- Miyares, R.L., Stein, C., Renisch, B., Anderson, J.L., Hammerschmidt, M., and Farber, S.A.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-140210-23
- Date
- 2013
- Source
- Developmental Cell 27(6): 635-647 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Anderson, Jennifer, Anderson, Jennifer, Farber, Steven, Hammerschmidt, Matthias, Miyares, Rosa, Renisch, Bjoern, Stein, Cornelia
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Acyl Coenzyme A/metabolism
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Blotting, Western
- Body Patterning/physiology*
- Bone Morphogenetic Proteins/genetics
- Bone Morphogenetic Proteins/metabolism
- Coenzyme A Ligases/genetics
- Coenzyme A Ligases/metabolism
- Embryo, Nonmammalian/cytology
- Embryo, Nonmammalian/metabolism*
- Fatty Acids, Unsaturated/metabolism*
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental*
- Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3/genetics
- Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3/metabolism
- In Situ Hybridization
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Phenotype
- Phosphorylation
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
- Signal Transduction
- Smad Proteins, Receptor-Regulated/genetics
- Smad Proteins, Receptor-Regulated/metabolism
- Transforming Growth Factor beta/genetics
- Transforming Growth Factor beta/metabolism
- Zebrafish/embryology
- Zebrafish/genetics
- Zebrafish/metabolism*
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
- Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism*
- p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/genetics
- p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism
- PubMed
- 24332754 Full text @ Dev. Cell
Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) and their metabolites are critical players in cell biology and embryonic development. Here we show that long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 4a (Acsl4a), an LC-PUFA activating enzyme, is essential for proper patterning of the zebrafish dorsoventral axis. Loss of Acsl4a results in dorsalized embryos due to attenuated bone morphogenetic protein (Bmp) signaling. We demonstrate that Acsl4a modulates the activity of Smad transcription factors, the downstream mediators of Bmp signaling. Acsl4a promotes the inhibition of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and the Akt-mediated inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase 3, critical inhibitors of Smad activity. Consequently, introduction of a constitutively active Akt can rescue the dorsalized phenotype of Acsl4a-deficient embryos. Our results reveal a critical role for Acsl4a in modulating Bmp-Smad activity and provide a potential avenue for LC-PUFAs to influence a variety of developmental processes.