PUBLICATION
Integrin antagonists affect growth and pathfinding of ventral motor nerves in the trunk of embryonic zebrafish
- Authors
- Becker, T., McLane, M.A., and Becker, C.G.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-030716-14
- Date
- 2003
- Source
- Molecular and cellular neurosciences 23(1): 54-68 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Becker, Catherina G., Becker, Thomas
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Axons/physiology*
- Integrins/antagonists & inhibitors*
- Motor Neurons/drug effects
- Motor Neurons/ultrastructure*
- Muscle, Skeletal/innervation
- Nervous System/cytology
- Nervous System/embryology*
- Oligopeptides/pharmacology
- Peptides/pharmacology
- Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors/pharmacology
- Somites/cytology
- Zebrafish
- PubMed
- 12799137 Full text @ Mol. Cell Neurosci.
Citation
Becker, T., McLane, M.A., and Becker, C.G. (2003) Integrin antagonists affect growth and pathfinding of ventral motor nerves in the trunk of embryonic zebrafish. Molecular and cellular neurosciences. 23(1):54-68.
Abstract
Integrins are thought to be important receptors for extracellular matrix (ECM) components on growing axons. Ventral motor axons in the trunk of embryonic zebrafish grow in a midsegmental pathway through an environment rich in ECM components. To test the role of integrins in this process, integrin antagonists (the disintegrin echistatin in native and recombinant form, as well as the Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser peptide) were injected into embryos just prior to axon outgrowth at 14-16 h postfertilization (hpf). All integrin antagonists affected growth of ventral motor nerves in a similar way and native echistatin was most effective. At 24 hpf, when only the three primary motor axons per trunk hemisegment had grown out, 80% (16 of 20) of the embryos analyzed had abnormal motor nerves after injection of native echistatin, corresponding to 19% (91 of 480) of all nerves. At 33 hpf, when secondary motor axons were present in the pathway, 100% of the embryos were affected (24 of 24), with 20% of all nerves analyzed (196 of 960) being abnormal. Phenotypes comprised abnormal branching (64% of all abnormal nerves) and truncations (36% of all abnormal nerves) of ventral motor nerves at 24 hpf and mostly branching of the nerves at 33 hpf (94% of all abnormal nerves). Caudal branches were at least twice as frequent as rostral branches. Surrounding trunk tissue and a number of other axon fascicles were apparently not affected by the injections. Thus integrin function contributes to both growth and pathfinding of axons in ventral motor nerves in the trunk of zebrafish in vivo.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping