CNBP es esencial para el desarrollo de las estructuras craneofaciales del pez cebra.

WEINER, AMJ; ALLENDE, ML; BECKER, TS Y CALCATERRA, NB.

Pucón, Chile.

Simposio; XXI Reunión Anual de la Sociedad de Biología Celular de Chile.; 2007

Objectives Striking conservation in various organisms suggests that Cellular Nucleic acid Binding Protein (CNBP) plays a fundamental biological role across different species. Recently, it was reported that CNBP is required for forebrain formation during chick and mouse embryogenesis. In this study, we have used the zebrafish model system to expand the basic understanding of CNBP activity during vertebrate head development. Methodology The in vivo effect of CNBP depletion was examined by using antisense morpholino oligonucleotide knock-down assays. The morphant phenotye was characterized by in situ hybridization and cell proliferation/apoptosis assays during embryonic development. Results We show that zebrafish cnbp is expressed in a similar fashion as has been observed in early chick and mouse embryos. It was noticed that CNBP depletion causes forebrain truncation while trunk development appears normal. A substantial reduction in cell proliferation and an increase in cell death were observed in the anterior regions of cnbp morphant embryos. In situ hybridization assays show that CNBP depletion does not affect CNS patterning while it does cause neural crest derivatives depletion. Conclusions Our data suggest an essential role for CNBP in mediating neural crest expansion by controlling proliferation and cell survival rather than via a cell fate switch during rostral head development. This possible role of CNBP may not only explain zebrafish craniofacial anomalies but also those ones reported for mice and chicken and, moreover, demonstrate that CNBP plays an essential and conserved role during vertebrate head development.