Figure 2

Knockdown of Traf7 causes developmental defects in zebrafish. (A) Gross morphology of zebrafish embryos after traf7 ATG-MO injection. The images were taken at 3 dpf. The morphology of the uninjected and control-MO groups appear normal, whereas the embryos injected with traf7 ATG-MO show body defects, including unconsumed yolk sac, microcephaly, curved body axis, pericardial edema, and short body. (B) The embryos were divided into five categories according to the severity of the body defects (normal, mild, moderate, severe, and dead). (C) Injection of traf7 ATG-MO into embryos reduces Traf7 protein levels (***P < 0.01). (D and E) Knockdown of Traf7 affects neuronal development in the Tg(huC:RFP) zebrafish line, as indicated by the reduced fluorescence intensity (n = 5 embryos per group, *P < 0.05). (F and G) Knockdown of Traf7 induces neural cell death. The intense fluorescent apoptotic foci in the spinal cord were detected by the TUNEL assay at 3 dpf (n = 6 embryos per group, ****P < 0.0001).