PUBLICATION

Sox2 is required for maintenance and regeneration, but not initial development, of hair cells in the zebrafish inner ear

Authors
Millimaki, B.B., Sweet, E.M., and Riley, B.B.
ID
ZDB-PUB-100105-8
Date
2010
Source
Developmental Biology   338(2): 262-269 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Riley, Bruce, Sweet, Elly
Keywords
Regeneration, Hair cell, Support cell, Zebrafish, Heat shock, Atoh1a, Fgf, Notch, Laser ablation
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cell Survival
  • Ear, Inner/cytology*
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Hair Cells, Auditory/cytology*
  • Regeneration*
  • SOX Transcription Factors/genetics
  • SOX Transcription Factors/physiology*
  • SOXB1 Transcription Factors/genetics
  • SOXB1 Transcription Factors/physiology
  • Zebrafish
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/physiology*
PubMed
20025865 Full text @ Dev. Biol.
Abstract
Sox2 has been variously implicated in maintenance of pluripotent stem cells or, alternatively, early stages of cell differentiation, depending on context. In the developing inner ear, Sox2 initially marks all cells in the nascent sensory epithelium and, in mouse, is required for sensory epithelium formation. Sox2 is eventually downregulated in hair cells but is maintained in support cells, the functional significance of which is unknown. Here we describe regulation and function of sox2 in the zebrafish inner ear. Expression of sox2 begins after the onset of sensory epithelium development and is regulated by Atoh1a/b, Fgf and Notch. Knockdown of sox2 does not prevent hair cell production, but the rate of accumulation is reduced due to sporadic death of differentiated hair cells. We next tested the capacity for hair cell regeneration following laser ablation of mature brn3c:gfp-labeled hair cells. In control embryos, regeneration of lost hair cells begins by 12 h post-ablation and involves transdifferentiation of support cells rather than asymmetric cell division. In contrast, regeneration does not occur in sox2-depleted embryos. These data show that zebrafish sox2 is required for hair cell survival, as well as for transdifferentiation of support cells into hair cells during regeneration.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping