PUBLICATION

NeuroD regulates proliferation of photoreceptor progenitors in the retina of the zebrafish

Authors
Ochocinska, M.J., and Hitchcock, P.F.
ID
ZDB-PUB-090106-41
Date
2009
Source
Mechanisms of Development   126(3-4): 128-141 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Hitchcock, Peter
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors/metabolism*
  • Cell Differentiation/drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation/drug effects
  • Cyclins/genetics
  • Cyclins/metabolism
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian/cytology
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian/drug effects
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian/metabolism
  • Embryonic Development/drug effects
  • Fertilization/drug effects
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/drug effects
  • Mitosis/drug effects
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins/metabolism*
  • Neuroglia/cytology
  • Neuroglia/drug effects
  • Neuroglia/metabolism
  • Oligonucleotides, Antisense/pharmacology
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate/cytology*
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate/drug effects
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate/metabolism
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins/metabolism
  • Retina/cytology*
  • Retina/drug effects
  • Retina/metabolism
  • Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/cytology
  • Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/drug effects
  • Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/metabolism
  • Stem Cells/cytology*
  • Stem Cells/drug effects
  • Stem Cells/metabolism
  • Up-Regulation/drug effects
  • Zebrafish/embryology
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish/metabolism*
PubMed
19121642 Full text @ Mech. Dev.
Abstract
neuroD is a member of the family of proneural genes, which function to regulate the cell cycle, cell fate determination and cellular differentiation. In the retinas of larval and adult teleosts, neuroD is expressed in two populations of post-mitotic cells, a subset of amacrine cells and nascent cone photoreceptors, and proliferating cells in the lineages that give rise exclusively to rod and cone photoreceptors. Based on previous studies of NeuroD function in vitro and the cellular pattern of neuroD expression in the zebrafish retina, we hypothesized that within the mitotic photoreceptor lineages NeuroD selectively regulates aspects of the cell cycle. To test this hypothesis, gain and loss-of-function approaches were employed, relying on the inducible expression of a NeuroD(EGFP) fusion protein and morpholino oligonucleotides to inhibit protein translation, respectively. Conditional expression of neuroD causes cells to withdraw from the cell cycle, upregulate the expression of the cell cycle inhibitors, p27 and p57, and downregulate the cell cycle progression factors, Cyclin B1, Cyclin D1, and Cyclin E2. In the absence of NeuroD, cells specific for the rod and cone photoreceptor lineage fail to exit the cell cycle, and the number of cells expressing Cyclin D1 is increased. When expression is ectopically induced in multipotent progenitors, neuroD promotes the genesis of rod photoreceptors and inhibits the genesis of Müller glia. These data show that in the teleost retina NeuroD plays a fundamental role in photoreceptor genesis by regulating mechanisms that promote rod and cone progenitors to withdraw from the cell cycle. This is the first in vivo demonstration in the retina of cell cycle regulation by NeuroD.
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