PUBLICATION

Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels Are Required for Heart Development in Zebrafish

Authors
Chopra, S.S., Stroud, D.M., Watanabe, H., Bennett, J.S., Burns, C.G., Wells, K.S., Yang, T., Zhong, T.P., and Roden, D.M.
ID
ZDB-PUB-100330-29
Date
2010
Source
Circulation research   106(8): 1342-1350 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Zhong, Tao P.
Keywords
ion channels, heart development, zebrafish, scn5La
MeSH Terms
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Cricetinae
  • Membrane Potentials
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel
  • Transcription Factors/genetics
  • Cricetulus
  • Oligonucleotides, Antisense/metabolism
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors/genetics
  • Gastrulation/genetics
  • Age Factors
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Morphogenesis/genetics
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
  • Myocardium/metabolism*
  • Animals
  • CHO Cells
  • Genotype
  • Heart Defects, Congenital/embryology
  • Heart Defects, Congenital/genetics*
  • Heart Defects, Congenital/metabolism
  • RNA, Messenger/metabolism
  • Transfection
  • Phenotype
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Heart/embryology*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental*
  • Sodium Channels/genetics*
  • Sodium Channels/metabolism
  • GATA Transcription Factors/genetics
  • Amino Acid Sequence
PubMed
20339120 Full text @ Circ. Res.
Abstract
Rationale: Voltage-gated sodium channels initiate action potentials in excitable tissues. Mice in which Scn5A (the predominant sodium channel gene in heart) has been knocked out die early in development with cardiac malformations by mechanisms which have yet to be determined. Objective: Here we addressed this question by investigating the role of cardiac sodium channels in zebrafish heart development. Methods and Results: Transcripts of the functionally-conserved Scn5a homologs scn5Laa and scn5Lab were detected in the gastrulating zebrafish embryo and subsequently in the embryonic myocardium. Antisense knockdown of either channel resulted in marked cardiac chamber dysmorphogenesis and perturbed looping. These abnormalities were associated with decreased expression of the myocardial precursor genes nkx2.5, gata4, and hand2 in anterior lateral mesoderm and significant deficits in the production of cardiomyocyte progenitors. These early defects did not appear to result from altered membrane electrophysiology, as prolonged pharmacological blockade of sodium current failed to phenocopy channel knockdown. Moreover, embryos grown in calcium channel blocker-containing medium had hearts that did not beat but developed normally. Conclusions: These findings identify a novel, and possibly nonelectrogenic, role for cardiac sodium channels in heart development.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping