PUBLICATION

Function for hedgehog genes in zebrafish retinal development

Authors

Stenkamp, D.L., Frey, R.A., Prabhudesai, S.N., and Raymond, P.A.

ID

ZDB-PUB-000505-23

Date

2000

Source

Developmental Biology 220(2): 238-252 (Journal)

Registered Authors

Frey, Ruth, Prabhudesai, Shubhangi N., Raymond, Pamela, Stenkamp, Deborah L.

Keywords

photoreceptor; opsin; retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE); antisense oligonucleotide

MeSH Terms

Membrane Proteins/metabolism
Membrane Proteins/physiology
Rod Opsins/metabolism
Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/embryology
Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/metabolism
Trans-Activators*
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate/physiology
Retina/embryology*
Retina/metabolism
Animals
Oligonucleotides, Antisense/metabolism
In Situ Hybridization
Hedgehog Proteins
Proteins/metabolism
Proteins/physiology
Immunohistochemistry
Mutation
Zebrafish/embryology*
Zebrafish/genetics
Zebrafish Proteins*
Drosophila/embryology
Drosophila/genetics
Insect Proteins/genetics
Insect Proteins/physiology*
Drosophila Proteins*
Cell Differentiation

PubMed

10753513 Full text @ Dev. Biol.

Abstract

The hedgehog (hh) genes encode secreted signaling proteins that have important developmental functions in vertebrates and invertebrates. In Drosophila, expression of hh coordinates retinal development by propagating a wave of photoreceptor differentiation across the eye primordium. Here we report that two vertebrate hh genes, sonic hedgehog (shh) and tiggy-winkle hedgehog (twhh), may perform similar functions in the developing zebrafish. Both shh and twhh are expressed in the embryonic zebrafish retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE), initially in a discrete ventral patch which then expands outward in advance of an expanding wave of photoreceptor recruitment in the subjacent neural retina. A gene encoding a receptor for the hedgehog protein, ptc-2, is expressed by retinal neuroepithelial cells. Injection of a cocktail of antisense (alphashh/alphatwhh) oligonucleotides reduces expression of both hh genes in the RPE and slows or arrests the progression of rod and cone photoreceptor differentiation. Zebrafish strains known to have mutations in Hh signaling pathway genes similarly exhibit retardation of photoreceptor differentiation. We propose that hedgehog genes may play a role in propagating photoreceptor differentiation across the developing eye of the zebrafish.

Genes / Markers

Figures