PUBLICATION

Zebrafish Staufen1 and Staufen2 are required for the survival and migration of primordial germ cells

Authors
Ramasamy, S., Wang, H., Quach, H.N., and Sampath, K.
ID
ZDB-PUB-060313-14
Date
2006
Source
Developmental Biology   292(2): 393-406 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Quach, Helen Ngoc Bao, Ramasamy, Srinivas, Sampath, Karuna, Wang, Hui
Keywords
Antisense morpholino oligonucleotides, Cell death, Dominant negative proteins, Germ line, Double stranded RNA binding domain, Cell migration, nanos1, Neurons, Primordial germ cells, staufen, stau1, stau2, vasa, Zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Apoptosis
  • Cell Movement*
  • Cell Survival*
  • Conserved Sequence
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian
  • Germ Cells/cytology*
  • Germ Cells/physiology*
  • Glutathione Transferase/metabolism
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Microscopy, Video
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Oligonucleotides, Antisense/pharmacology
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • RNA/metabolism
  • RNA-Binding Proteins/chemistry
  • RNA-Binding Proteins/genetics
  • RNA-Binding Proteins/physiology*
  • Radiation Hybrid Mapping
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins/chemistry
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins/metabolism
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish/physiology
  • Zebrafish Proteins/chemistry
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/physiology*
PubMed
16513105 Full text @ Dev. Biol.
Abstract
In sexually reproducing organisms, primordial germ cells (PGCs) give rise to the cells of the germ line, the gametes. In many animals, PGCs are set apart from somatic cells early during embryogenesis. Work in Drosophila, C. elegans, Xenopus, and zebrafish has shown that maternally provided localized cytoplasmic determinants specify the germ line in these organisms (Raz, E., 2003. Primordial germ-cell development: the zebrafish perspective. Nat. Rev., Genet. 4, 690-700; Santos, A.C., Lehmann, R., 2004. Germ cell specification and migration in Drosophila and beyond. Curr. Biol. 14, R578-R589). The Drosophila RNA-binding protein, Staufen is required for germ cell formation, and mutations in stau result in a maternal effect grandchild-less phenotype (Schupbach, T., Wieschaus, E., 1989. Female sterile mutations on the second chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster : I. Maternal effect mutations. Genetics 121, 101– 17). Here we describe the functions of two zebrafish Staufen-related proteins, Stau1 and Stau2. When Stau1 or Stau2 functions are compromised in embryos by injecting antisense morpholino modified oligonucleotides or dominant-negative Stau peptides, germ layer patterning is not affected. However, expression of the PGC marker vasa is not maintained. Furthermore, expression of a green fluorescent protein (GFP):nanos 3'UTR fusion protein in germ cells shows that PGC migration is aberrant, and the mis-migrating PGCs do not survive in Stau-compromised embryos. Stau2 is also required for survival of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). These phenotypes are rescued by co-injection of Drosophila stau mRNA. Thus, staufen has an evolutionarily conserved function in germ cells. In addition, we have identified a function for Stau proteins in PGC migration.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping