Impairment of itga5 function leads to a phenotype in the zebrafish head. Lateral views of 9-somite stage zebrafish embryos. DIC (A-C) and widefield (D-F) images of cell nuclei labeled with propidium iodide. (A,D) Wild type. (B,E) In itga5-/- embryos, there is a deficit of cells posterior to the eye (asterisks). This phenotype is evident in mutant embryos with virtually unrecognizable somite phenotypes (presumably due to maternal rescue and/or genetic background). Thus, head development is more sensitive than somitogenesis to the loss of itga5. (C,F) This head phenotype is observed in wild-type embryos that express itga5FYLDD, demonstrating the antimorphic activity of this integrin variant.
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