PUBLICATION

Characterization of the neuroligin gene family expression and evolution in zebrafish

Authors
Rissone, A., Sangiorgio, L., Monopoli, M., Beltrame, M., Zucchi, I., Bussolino, F., Arese, M., and Cotelli, F.
ID
ZDB-PUB-100105-16
Date
2010
Source
Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists   239(2): 688-702 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Beltrame, Monica, Cotelli, Franco
Keywords
Neuroligin, zebrafish, alternative splicing, evolution
MeSH Terms
  • Alternative Splicing*
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Brain/embryology
  • Brain/metabolism
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Embryonic Development
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Exons
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Humans
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Introns
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Multigene Family*
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics*
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins/metabolism
  • Phylogeny
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Zebrafish/embryology
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
  • Zebrafish/metabolism
PubMed
20034102 Full text @ Dev. Dyn.
Abstract
Neuroligins constitute a family of transmembrane proteins localized at the postsynaptic side of both excitatory and inhibitory synapses of the central nervous system. They are involved in synaptic function and maturation and recent studies have linked mutations in specific human Neuroligins to mental retardation and autism. We isolated the human Neuroligin homologs in Danio rerio. Next, we studied their gene structures and we reconstructed the evolution of the Neuroligin genes across vertebrate phyla. Using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, we analyzed the expression and alternative splicing pattern of each gene during zebrafish embryonic development and in different adult organs. By in situ hybridization, we analyzed the temporal and spatial expression pattern during embryonic development and larval stages and we found that zebrafish Neuroligins are expressed throughout the nervous system. Globally, our results indicate that, during evolution, specific subfunctionalization events occurred within paralogous members of this gene family in zebrafish.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping