Requirement of Npc1 and availability of cholesterol for early embryonic cell movements in zebrafish.

Niemann-Pick disease, type C (NP-C), often associated with Niemann-Pick disease, type C1 (NPC1) mutations, is a cholesterol-storage disorder characterized by cellular lipid accumulation, neurodegeneration, and reduced steroid production. To study NPC1 function in vivo, we cloned zebrafish npc1 and analyzed its gene expression and activity by reducing Npc1 protein with morpholino (MO)-oligonucleotides. Filipin staining in npc1-morphant cells was punctate, suggesting abnormal accumulation of cholesterol. Developmentally, reducing Npc1 did not disrupt early cell fate or survival; however, early morphogenetic movements were delayed, and the actin cytoskeleton network was abnormal. MO-induced defects were rescued with ectopic expression of mouse NPC1, demonstrating functional gene conservation, and by treatments with steroids pregnenolone or dexamethasone, suggesting that reduced steroidogenesis contributed to abnormal cell movements. Cell death was found in anterior tissues of npc1 morphants at later stages, consistent with findings in mammals. Collectively, these studies show that npc1 is required early for proper cell movement and cholesterol localization and later for cell survival.

Visualization of Gli activity in craniofacial tissues of hedgehog-pathway reporter transgenic zebrafish.

BACKGROUND: The Hedgehog (Hh)-signaling pathway plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of multiple vertebrate and invertebrate organ systems. Gli transcription factors are regulated by Hh-signaling and act as downstream effectors of the pathway to activate Hh-target genes. Understanding the requirements for Hh-signaling in organisms can be gained by assessing Gli activity in a spatial and temporal fashion. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have generated a Gli-dependent (Gli-d) transgenic line, Tg(Gli-d:mCherry), that allows for rapid and simple detection of Hh-responding cell populations in both live and fixed zebrafish. This transgenic line expresses a mCherry reporter under the control of a Gli responsive promoter, which can be followed by using fluorescent microscopy and in situ hybridization. Expression of the mCherry transgene reporter during embryogenesis and early larval development faithfully replicated known expression domains of Hh-signaling in zebrafish, and abrogating Hh-signaling in transgenic fish resulted in the suppression of reporter expression. Moreover, ectopic shh expression in Tg(Glid:mCherry) fish led to increased transgene production. Using this transgenic line we investigated the nature of Hh-pathway response during early craniofacial development and determined that the neural crest skeletal precursors do not directly respond to Hh-signaling prior to 48 hours post fertilization, suggesting that earlier requirements for pathway activation in this population of facial skeleton precursors are indirect. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: We have determined that early Hh-signaling requirements in craniofacial development are indirect. We further demonstrate the Tg(Gli-d:mCherry) fish are a highly useful tool for studying Hh-signaling dependent processes during embryogenesis and larval stages.

Zebrafish con/disp1 reveals multiple spatiotemporal requirements for Hedgehog-signaling in craniofacial development.

BACKGROUND: The vertebrate head skeleton is derived largely from cranial neural crest cells (CNCC). Genetic studies in zebrafish and mice have established that the Hedgehog (Hh)-signaling pathway plays a critical role in craniofacial development, partly due to the pathway's role in CNCC development. Disruption of the Hh-signaling pathway in humans can lead to the spectral disorder of Holoprosencephaly (HPE), which is often characterized by a variety of craniofacial defects including midline facial clefting and cyclopia 12. Previous work has uncovered a role for Hh-signaling in zebrafish dorsal neurocranium patterning and chondrogenesis, however Hh-signaling mutants have not been described with respect to the ventral pharyngeal arch (PA) skeleton. Lipid-modified Hh-ligands require the transmembrane-spanning receptor Dispatched 1 (Disp1) for proper secretion from Hh-synthesizing cells to the extracellular field where they act on target cells. Here we study chameleon mutants, lacking a functional disp1(con/disp1). RESULTS: con/disp1 mutants display reduced and dysmorphic mandibular and hyoid arch cartilages and lack all ceratobranchial cartilage elements. CNCC specification and migration into the PA primorida occurs normally in con/disp1 mutants, however disp1 is necessary for post-migratory CNCC patterning and differentiation. We show that disp1 is required for post-migratory CNCC to become properly patterned within the first arch, while the gene is dispensable for CNCC condensation and patterning in more posterior arches. Upon residing in well-formed pharyngeal epithelium, neural crest condensations in the posterior PA fail to maintain expression of two transcription factors essential for chondrogenesis, sox9a and dlx2a, yet continue to robustly express other neural crest markers. Histology reveals that posterior arch residing-CNCC differentiate into fibrous-connective tissue, rather than becoming chondrocytes. Treatments with Cyclopamine, to inhibit Hh-signaling at different developmental stages, show that Hh-signaling is required during gastrulation for normal patterning of CNCC in the first PA, and then during the late pharyngula stage, to promote CNCC chondrogenesis within the posterior arches. Further, loss of disp1 disrupted normal expression of bapx1 and gdf5, markers of jaw joint patterning, thus resulting in jaw joint defects in con/disp1 mutant animals. CONCLUSION: This study reveals novel requirements for Hh-signaling in the zebrafish PA skeleton and highlights the functional diversity and differential sensitivity of craniofacial tissues to Hh-signaling throughout the face, a finding that may help to explain the spectrum of human facial phenotypes characteristic of HPE.

Deciphering the role of Shh signaling in axial defects produced by ethanol exposure.

BACKGROUND: The phenotype of embryos exposed to ethanol is complex and likely due to multiple alterations in developmental pathways. We have previously demonstrated that Sonic hedgehog signaling (Shh-s) was reduced in both chicken and zebrafish embryos when exposed to ethanol. METHODS: There are many tissues affected by embryonic ethanol exposure, and in this article we explore the development of axial tissues, using zebrafish embryos. We then compare these effects to the phenotypes produced by exposure to two drugs that also inhibit Shh-s: cyclopamine and forskolin. RESULTS: We found alterations in the development of the notochord and somites produced by all three compounds, although only ethanol produced developmental delay of epiboly. Upon observation of early developing embryos, muscle pioneer cells were completely lost in cyclopamine-treated embryos, and reduced, but less so, in embryos treated with forskolin and ethanol. Ethanol treatment produced a dose-dependent reduction in total body length that may be linked to epiboly delay seen earlier during development. Despite the differences between cyclopamine and forskolin, we found that shh mRNA injection rescued the short body length, the alteration in somite shape, and the cyclopia produced by ethanol exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, each teratogen produced a unique set of phenotypic changes in the body axis, suggesting that each compound affects Shh-s and also produces a distinctive set of molecular alterations. However, addition of exogenous Shh to ethanol treated zebrafish prevented many of the gross physical phenotypes, suggesting that the suppression of Shh-s is one of the major effects of ethanol exposure.

Molecular changes associated with teratogen-induced cyclopia.

BACKGROUND: Exposure of zebrafish embryos to a number of teratogens results in cyclopia, but little is known about the underlying molecular changes. METHODS: Using zebrafish embryos, we compare the effects cyclopamine, forskolin, and ethanol delivered starting just before gastrulation, on gene expression in early axial tissues and forebrain development. RESULTS: Although all three teratogens suppress gli1 expression, they do so with variable kinetics, suggesting that while suppression of Shh signaling is a common outcome of these three teratogens, it is not a common cause of the cyclopia. Instead, all teratogens studied produce a series of changes in the expression of gsc and six3b present in early axial development, as well as a later suppression of neural crest cell marker dlx3b. Ethanol and forskolin, but not cyclopamine, exposure reduced anterior markers, which most likely contributes to the cyclopic phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that each teratogen exposure leads to a unique set of molecular changes that underlie the single phenotype of cyclopia.

Expression profiles of ndel1a and ndel1b, two orthologs of the NudE-Like gene, in the zebrafish.

NudE-Like (NDEL1/NUDEL), through its interaction with LIS1 and DISC1, has been implicated in the etiology of neurological disorders such as lissencephaly and schizophrenia, respectively. Subsequently, a large portion of the research done on the function of NDEL1 has been specifically targeted to its role in brain development while ignoring its function in other developing and adult tissues. To begin a more global exploration of NDEL1's function, this study characterizes the developmental expression pattern of the NDEL1 orthologs in the zebrafish embryo. Our bioinformatic analyses identified two NDEL1 orthologs in the zebrafish, ndel1a and ndel1b. ndel1a is expressed predominantly in the anterior central nervous system (CNS), trigeminal ganglia, and eyes while ndel1b is expressed in the developing somites and, later, in the CNS. In addition to the spatial differences in their expression patterns, these genes are also individually regulated in their temporal expression. Both are expressed maternally but at later time-points there are subtle differences. ndel1a expression is lost between 6 and 12 hpf but then increases to a higher, near steady state, level from 72 to 120 hpf. ndel1b expression decreases from 3 to 36 hpf and subsequently increases from 36 to 120 hpf. The non-overlapping expression patterns of these two orthologs may indicate that they have split the functional role of the one NDEL1 gene present in mammalian species. The temporal and spatial regulation of these two orthologs will aid in the characterization of the multiple functions of this gene in both the developing and mature organism.

Sonic hedgehog rescues cranial neural crest from cell death induced by ethanol exposure.

Alcohol is a teratogen that induces a variety of abnormalities including brain and facial defects [Jones, K. & Smith, D. (1973) Lancet 2, 999-1001], with the exact nature of the deficit depending on the time and magnitude of the dose of ethanol to which developing fetuses are exposed. In addition to abnormal facial structures, ethanol-treated embryos exhibit a highly characteristic pattern of cell death. Dying cells are observed in the premigratory and migratory neural crest cells that normally populate most facial structures. The observation that blocking Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling results in similar craniofacial abnormalities prompted us to examine whether there was a link between this aspect of fetal alcohol syndrome and loss of Shh. We demonstrate that administration of ethanol to chick embryos results in a dramatic loss of Shh, as well as a loss of transcripts involved in Shh signaling pathways. In contrast, other signaling molecules examined do not demonstrate such dramatic changes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that both the ethanol-induced cranial neural crest cell death and the associated craniofacial growth defect can be rescued by application of Shh. These data suggest that craniofacial anomalies resulting from fetal alcohol exposure are caused at least partially by loss of Shh and subsequent neural crest cell death.