Abstract
The development of the vertebrate jaw relies on a network of transcription factors that patterns the dorsal-ventral axis of the pharyngeal arches. Recent findings in both mouse and zebrafish illustrate that the basic-helix-loop-helix transcription factor, Hand2, is crucial in this patterning process. While Hand2 has functionally similar roles in these two species, little is known about the regulatory sequences controlling hand2 expression in zebrafish. Using bioinformatics and Tol2-mediated transgenesis, we have generated zebrafish transgenic reporter lines in which either the mouse or zebrafish arch-specific hand2 enhancer direct expression of a fluorescent reporter. We find that both the mouse and zebrafish enhancers drive early reporter expression in a hand2-specific pattern in the ventral pharyngeal arches of zebrafish embryos. These lines provide useful tools to follow ventral arch cells during vertebrate jaw development while also allowing dissection of hand2 transcriptional regulation during this process.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 118-126 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Developmental Biology |
| Volume | 368 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to thank Richard Cripps and Tom Schilling for helpful comments, Chi-Bin Chien and Li-En Jao for plasmids, Robert E. Hammer (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center) for assistance with mouse embryo injections, Crystal Woods and Alicia Navetta for technical assistance and Alex Blasky for assistance with confocal microscopy. The work was supported by NIH grant DE018899 (D.E.C.). J.M.I. was supported by NIH T32 GM008497-S1 as a NIH Graduate Partnership Program student with NHLBI.
Keywords
- BHLH
- Craniofacial
- Enhancer
- Hand2
- Mouse
- Transgenic
- Zebrafish