PUBLICATION

Leukemia-associated transcription factor mllt3 is important for primitive erythroid development in zebrafish embryogenesis

Authors
Germano, G., Porazzi, P., Felix, C.
ID
ZDB-PUB-220419-12
Date
2022
Source
Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists   251(10): 1728-1740 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
gene expression, intermediate cell mass, mutants, primitive hematopoiesis
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Embryonic Development/genetics
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Humans
  • Leukemia*
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • Phylogeny
  • Transcription Factors/genetics
  • Zebrafish*/genetics
PubMed
35429189 Full text @ Dev. Dyn.
Abstract
MLLT3 (AF9) is a nuclear transcription factor crucial for hematopoietic stem cell and progenitor cell maintenance, but its role during embryonic hematopoiesis remains uncertain. Here, we examine the role of mllt3 in developmental hematopoiesis during embryogenesis using zebrafish.
Cloning, sequencing, phylogenetic and synteny analyses showed high evolutionary conservation between important functional domains of the zebrafish orthologue of mllt3 and MLLT3 in humans. Quantitative RT-PCR and in situ hybridization analyses revealed that mllt3 is maternally supplied and zygotically expressed throughout embryonic development, and that expression is highest between 10 to 24 h post fertilization (hpf) coincident with enrichment in the intermediate cell mass (ICM) and posterior blood island, which are the sites of the primitive and transient definitive hematopoiesis in zebrafish, respectively. Further, we found co-expression of mllt3 with the early hematopoietic progenitor markers tal1, gata2 and gata1a in the posterior ICM. By investigating zebrafish hematopoietic mutants, we discovered that mllt3 is involved in erythroid precursor formation. By 48 to 72 hpf, mllt3 expression proved to be restricted to non-hematopoietic tissues including head structures, pronephric tubules and liver primordium.
These findings establish a link between mllt3 and primitive erythropoiesis and provide the basis for future functional investigations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping