Francesca Benato

Thyroid gland development and function in the zebrafish model

Thyroid development has been intensively studied in the mouse, where it closely recapitulates the human situation. Despite the lack of a compact thyroid gland, the zebrafish thyroid tissue originates from the pharyngeal endoderm and the main genes involved in its patterning and early development are conserved between zebrafish and mammals. In recent years, the zebrafish has become a powerful model not only for the developmental biology studies, but also for large-scale genetic analyses and drug screenings, mostly thanks to the ease with which its embryos can be manipulated and to its translucent body, which allows in vivo imaging. In this review we will provide an overview of the current knowledge of thyroid gland origin and differentiation in the zebrafish. Moreover, we will consider the action of thyroid hormones and some aspects related to endocrine disruptors.

The knockdown of maternal glucocorticoid receptor mRNA alters embryo development in zebrafish

In zebrafish, ovulated oocytes contain both maternal cortisol and the mRNA for the glucocorticoid receptor (gr), which is spread as granular structures throughout the ooplasm. At 0.2 hpf, this transcript is relocated in the blastodisc area and partitioned among blastomeres. At 6–8 hpf, it is replaced by zygotic transcript. We used morpholinos to block translation of both maternal and zygotic gr transcripts, and a missplicing morpholino to block post‐transcriptionally the zygotic transcript alone. Only knockdown of translation produced an increase of apoptosis and subsequent craniofacial and caudal deformities with severe malformations of neural, vascular, and visceral organs in embryos and 5‐dpf larvae. Such defects were rescued with trout gr2 mRNA. Microarray analysis revealed that 114 and 37 highly expressed transcripts were up‐ and down‐regulated, respectively, by maternal Gr protein deficiency in 5‐hpf embryos. These results indicate that the maternal gr transcript and protein participate in the maternal programming of zebrafish development. Developmental Dynamics 240:874–889, 2011.

Development and specification of cerebellar stem and progenitor cells in zebrafish: from embryo to adult

BackgroundTeleost fish display widespread post-embryonic neurogenesis originating from many different proliferative niches that are distributed along the brain axis. During the development of the central nervous system (CNS) different cell types are produced in a strict temporal order from increasingly committed progenitors. However, it is not known whether diverse neural stem and progenitor cell types with restricted potential or stem cells with broad potential are maintained in the teleost fish brain.ResultsTo study the diversity and output of neural stem and progenitor cell populations in the zebrafish brain the cerebellum was used as a model brain region, because of its well-known architecture and development. Transgenic zebrafish lines, in vivo imaging and molecular markers were used to follow and quantify how the proliferative activity and output of cerebellar progenitor populations progress. This analysis revealed that the proliferative activity and progenitor marker expression declines in juvenile zebrafish before they reach sexual maturity. Furthermore, this correlated with the diminished repertoire of cell types produced in the adult. The stem and progenitor cells derived from the upper rhombic lip were maintained into adulthood and they actively produced granule cells. Ventricular zone derived progenitor cells were largely quiescent in the adult cerebellum and produced a very limited number of glia and inhibitory inter-neurons. No Purkinje or Eurydendroid cells were produced in fish older than 3 months. This suggests that cerebellar cell types are produced in a strict temporal order from distinct pools of increasingly committed stem and progenitor cells.ConclusionsOur results in the zebrafish cerebellum show that neural stem and progenitor cell types are specified and they produce distinct cell lineages and sub-types of brain cells. We propose that only specific subtypes of brain cells are continuously produced throughout life in the teleost fish brain. This implies that the post-embryonic neurogenesis in fish is linked to the production of particular neurons involved in specific brain functions, rather than to general, indeterminate growth of the CNS and all of its cell types.

Bioinformatic and molecular characterization of beta-defensins-like peptides isolated from the green lizard Anolis carolinensis.

The high resistance of lizards to infections indicates that anti-microbial peptides may be involved. Through the analysis of the green lizard (Anolis carolinensis) genome and the expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries 32 beta-defensin-like-peptides have been identified. The level of expression of some of these genes in different tissues has been determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Gene expression and structure analysis suggest the presence of alternative splicing mechanisms, with a number of exons ranging from two to four, similar to that for beta-defensins genes in mammals. Lizard beta-defensin-like peptides present the characteristic cysteine-motif identified in mammalian and avian beta-defensins. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that some lizard beta-defensins-like peptides are related to crotamine and crotamin-like peptides of snakes and lizards suggesting that beta-defensins and venomous peptides have a common ancestor gene.

Interplay between autophagy and apoptosis in the development of Danio rerio follicles and the effects of a probiotic.

The present study investigated autophagic processes in Danio rerio preovulatory follicles (Stage III and IV). There were more autophagosomes, as revealed by electron microscopy, in follicles from females fed the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus IMC 501. This was confirmed by increased expression of genes involved in the autophagic process, namely ambra1, becn1, lc3 and uvrag. In addition, preovulatory follicles from females fed the probiotic contained more microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 isoform II (LC3-II) and less p62 protein. The increased autophagy in preovulatory follicles from females fed the probiotic was concomitant with a decrease in the apoptotic process in the ovary, as evidenced by terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick end-labelling analysis and confirmed by lower expression of genes involved in apoptosis (i.e., p53, bax, apaf and cas3) and higher expression as igfII and igf1r. The results of the present study provide preliminary evidence of the involvement of autophagy during follicle development in the zebrafish ovary. In addition, we have demonstrated for the first time that a functional food, such as L. rhamnosus IMC 501, can modulate the balance between apoptosis and autophagy that regulates ovary physiology in zebrafish by inhibiting follicular apoptosis and improving follicular survival.

A living biosensor model to dynamically trace glucocorticoid transcriptional activity during development and adult life in zebrafish

Glucocorticoids (GCs) modulate many cellular processes through the binding of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) to specific responsive elements located upstream of the transcription starting site or within an intron of GC target genes. Here we describe a transgenic fish line harboring a construct with nine GC-responsive elements (GREs) upstream of a reporter (EGFP) coding sequence. Transgenic fish exhibit strong fluorescence in many known GC-responsive organs. Moreover, its enhanced sensitivity allowed the discovery of novel GC-responsive tissue compartments, such as fin, eyes, and otic vesicles. Long-term persistence of transgene expression is seen during adult stages in several organs. Pharmacological and genetic analysis demonstrates that the transgenic line is highly responsive to drug administration and molecular manipulation. Moreover, reporter expression is sensitively and dynamically modulated by the photoperiod, thus proving that these fish are an in vivo valuable platform to explore GC responsiveness to both endogenous and exogenous stimuli.

The knockdown of the maternal estrogen receptor 2a (esr2a) mRNA affects embryo transcript contents and larval development in zebrafish.

In zebrafish, ovulated oocytes are loaded with maternal estrogen receptor 2a (esr2a) mRNA which is spread as granular and filamentous structures throughout the central ooplasm and is promptly relocated inside the blastodisc area at the 1-cell stage (0.2h post-fertilization, hpf), as shown by in situ hybridization. This transcript is available for translation until its sharp decline from 4 to 8 hpf, being replaced by low levels of zygotic esr2a mRNA mainly localized in the head region and around the yolk sac from 24 hpf until hatching at 48 hpf. To test the functional role of the maternal esr2a mRNA, 1- or 2-cell embryos were injected with 10.3 ng each of morpholino (MO) to knockdown translation (MO2-esr2a) of both maternal and zygotic esr2a transcripts, with a missplicing MO (MO3-esr2a) to effectively block post-transcriptionally the zygotic transcript alone, and with a non-specific MO-control. Treatment with MO2-esr2a increased apoptosis in embryos, especially in the brain, and caused severe malformations in 63% of 1-5 dpf larvae, as compared to 10-11% in those treated with MO3-esr2a and MO-control. Defects included body growth delay with curved shape, persistent yolk sac with reduced sub-intestinal veins and swollen yolk extension, abnormal brain and splanchnocranium development, smaller eyes and otic vesicles, pericardial oedema, uninflated swim bladder and rudimentary caudal fin with aberrant circular swimming. Affected larvae could survive for only 12-14 days. The MO2-esr2a phenotype was rescued with co-injection of 30 pg/embryo of mutated zebrafish esr2a mRNA encoding the full length of Esr2a, but containing eight silent mutations in the region recognised by MO2-esr2a. A lower dosage (15 pg) failed to recover mortality and abnormality. Raising the dosage to 60 and 90 pg increased abnormality, but not mortality, whereas with 120 pg both mortality and abnormality worsened, indicating a strict quantitative requirement of Esr2a. Co-injection of an anti-p53 MO failed to rescue the MO2-esr2a phenotype, eliminating the possibility of off-target effects. Pangenomic microarray analysis revealed that 240 and 219 significantly expressed transcripts were up- and down-regulated, respectively, by maternal Esr2a protein deficiency in 8-hpf MO2-esr2a embryos. Also at 48 hpf, 162 and 120 presumably zygotic transcripts were up- and down-regulated, respectively, but only 18 were in common with each of the 8-hpf sets. In total, the transcripts from 705 genes were affected by Esr2a knockdown. These findings suggest the involvement of maternal esr2a mRNA, presumably transactivated by maternal 17β-estradiol stored in the oocyte from enveloping granulosa cells, in the epigenetic programming of zebrafish development.

Ambra1 knockdown in zebrafish leads to incomplete development due to severe defects in organogenesis

AMBRA1 is a positive regulator of the BECN1-dependent program of autophagy recently identified in mouse. In this study, we cloned the full-length cDNAs of ambra1a and ambra1b zebrafish paralogous genes. As in mouse, both Ambra1 proteins contain the characteristic WD40 repeat region. The transcripts of both genes are present as maternal RNAs in the eggs and display a gradual decline until 8 hpf, being replaced by zygotic mRNAs from 12 hpf onwards. After 24 hpf, the transcripts are mainly localized in the head, suggesting a possible role in brain development. To check their developmental roles, we adopted morpholino knockdown to block either translation (ATGMOs) or splicing (SPLICMOs). Treatment with ATGMOs causes severe embryonic malformations, as prelarvae could survive for only 3 and 4 days in ambra1a and b morphants, respectively. Treatment with SPLICMOs led to developmental defects only at a late stage, indicating the importance of maternally supplied ambra1 transcripts. Analysis of the levels of Lc3-II, an autophagosome-specific marker, in the presence of lysosome inhibitors evidenced a reduction in the rate of autophagosome formation in both MOs-injected embryos at 48 hpf, more pronounced in the case of ambra1a gene. Although some defects, such as body growth delay, curved shape and hemorrhagic pericardial cavity were present in both morphants, the occurrence of specific phenotypes, such as major abnormalities of brain development in ambra1a morphants, suggests the possible acquisition of specific functions by the two paralogous genes that are both required during development and do not compensate each other following knockdown.

Disruptions of Global and Jagged1-Mediated Notch Signaling Affect Thyroid Morphogenesis in the Zebrafish

The mechanisms underlying the early steps of thyroid development are largely unknown. In search for novel candidate genes implicated in thyroid function, we performed a gene expression analysis on thyroid cells revealing that TSH regulates the expression of several elements of the Notch pathway, including the ligand Jagged1. Because the Notch pathway is involved in cell-fate determination of several foregut-derived endocrine tissues, we tested its contribution in thyroid development using the zebrafish, a teleost model recapitulating the mammalian molecular events during thyroid development. Perturbing the Notch signaling (e.g. mib mutants, γ-secretase inhibition, or Notch intracellular domain overexpression), we obtained evidence that this pathway has a biological role during the earlier phases of thyroid primordium induction, limiting the number of cells that proceed to a specialized fate and probably involving actions from surrounding tissues. Moreover, we were able to confirm the expression of Jagged1 during different phases of zebrafish thyroid development, as well as in mouse and human thyroid tissues. The two orthologues to the single jagged1 gene (JAG1) in humans, jag1a and jag1b, are expressed with different spatiotemporal patterns in the developing zebrafish thyroid. Both jag1a and jag1b morphants, as well as jag1b mutant fish line, display thyroid hypoplasia and impaired T(4) production; this thyroid phenotype was rescued by coinjection of human JAG1 mRNA. In conclusion, Notch pathway is involved in the early steps of thyroid morphogenesis, and Jagged1-Notch signal is required for zebrafish thyroid development and function. Thus, genetic alterations affecting the Notch pathway may confer susceptibility for thyroid dysgenesis.

Zebrafish ambra1a and ambra1b Knockdown Impairs Skeletal Muscle Development

The essential role of autophagy in muscle homeostasis has been clearly demonstrated by phenotype analysis of mice with muscle-specific inactivation of genes encoding autophagy-related proteins. Ambra1 is a key component of the Beclin 1 complex and, in zebrafish, it is encoded by two paralogous genes, ambra1a and ambra1b, both required for normal embryogenesis and larval development. In this study we focused on the function of Ambra1, a positive regulator of the autophagic process, during skeletal muscle development by means of morpholino (MO)-mediated knockdown and compared the phenotype of zebrafish Ambra1-depleted embryos with that of Ambra1 gt/gt mouse embryos. Morphological analysis of zebrafish morphant embryos revealed that silencing of ambra1 impairs locomotor activity and muscle development, as well as myoD1 expression. Skeletal muscles in ATG-morphant embryos displayed severe histopathological changes and contained only small areas of organized myofibrils that were widely dispersed throughout the cell. Double knockdown of ambra1a and ambra1b resulted in a more severe phenotype whereas defects were much less evident in splice-morphants. The morphants phenotypes were effectively rescued by co-injection with human AMBRA1 mRNA. Together, these results indicate that ambra1a and ambra1b are required for the correct development and morphogenesis of skeletal muscle.