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
-
- Nervous System/cytology
- Nervous System/embryology*
- Pituitary Gland, Anterior/cytology
- Pituitary Gland, Anterior/embryology
- Zebrafish/embryology*
- Trans-Activators/metabolism
- Hedgehog Proteins
- Visual Pathways/cytology
- Visual Pathways/embryology
- Animals
- Signal Transduction
- Prosencephalon/cytology
- Prosencephalon/embryology
- Retina/cytology
- Retina/embryology
- Mutation
- Motor Neurons
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Spinal Cord/cytology
- Spinal Cord/embryology
- Receptors, Cell Surface/genetics
- Receptors, Cell Surface/metabolism*
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
- Transcription Factors/genetics
- Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled*
- Phenotype
- Body Patterning*
- 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