Nlz belongs to a family of zinc-finger-containing repressors and controls segmental gene expression in the zebrafish hindbrain

• Published in: Developmental biology 2003-10, Vol.262 (2), p.254-267
• Main Authors: Runko, Alexander P, Sagerström, Charles G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors; Binding Sites; Corepressor; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental - physiology; Groucho; Hindbrain; Humans; Mice; Patterning; Phylogeny; Recombinant Fusion Proteins; Repressor; Repressor Proteins - metabolism; Rhombencephalon - embryology; Rhombencephalon - metabolism; Rhombomere; Segmentation; Transcription; Zebrafish; Zebrafish - embryology; Zebrafish - metabolism; Zinc Fingers - physiology; Zinc-finger
• ISSN: 0012-1606; 1095-564X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0012-1606(03)00388-9

The zebrafish nlz gene has a rostral expression limit at the presumptive rhombomere (r) 3/r4 boundary during gastrula stages, and its expression progressively expands rostrally to encompass both r3 and r2 by segmentation stages, suggesting a role for nlz in hindbrain development. We find that Nlz is a nuclear protein that associates with the corepressor Groucho, suggesting that Nlz acts to repress transcription. Consistent with a role as a repressor, misexpression of nlz causes a loss of gene expression in the rostral hindbrain, likely due to ectopic nlz acting prematurely in this domain, and this repression is accompanied by a partial expansion in the expression domains of r4-specific genes. To interfere with endogenous nlz function, we generated a form of nlz that lacks the Groucho binding site and demonstrate that this construct has a dominant negative effect. We find that interfering with endogenous Nlz function promotes the expansion of r5 and, to a lesser extent, r3 gene expression into r4, leading to a reduction in the size of r4. We conclude that Nlz is a transcriptional repressor that controls segmental gene expression in the hindbrain. Lastly, we identify additional nlz-related genes, suggesting that Nlz belongs to a family of zinc-finger proteins.