PgmNr Z6077: Foxc1a plays essential roles in zebrafish cardiogenesis.

Authors:
Y. Yue; L. He; Q. Zhang; C. Gu; Q. Zhao


Institutes
Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, CN.


Abstract:

Foxc1 is a highly conserved transcription factor during evolution. It plays dual roles by acting as a transcriptional activator or transcriptional repressor. Foxc1 is involved in regulating mouse out flow tract development. The mutated FOXC1 is associated with the congenital heart diseases in human. However, its functions and the molecular mechanisms underlying the vertebrate cardiogenesis remain largely unknown. To study the function of Foxc1 in early heart development, we had generated knockout zebrafish mutants of foxc1a, an orthologue gene of human FOXC1, using TALEN. We found that the foxc1a null embryos exhibited severe cardiac edema from 48 hours post fertilization and died at 9-10 days post fertilization. Further analyses revealed that foxc1a null mutants displayed serious defects of cardiac structures and heart function. And the data  from transcriptomic analysis on the mutated embryos further demonstrated that the expressions of the key genes that control heart development were greatly changed in foxc1a-/- zebrafish embryos during cardiogenesis. The roles of the gene in mediating foxc1a in zebrafish cardiogenesis are being investigated.



ZFIN Genetics Index
1. foxc1a