RESUMO
Vertebrate segmentation is regulated by the segmentation clock, a biological oscillator that controls periodic formation of somites, or embryonic segments, which give rise to many mesodermal tissue types. This molecular oscillator generates cyclic gene expression with the same periodicity as somite formation in the presomitic mesoderm (PSM), an area of mesenchymal cells that give rise to mature somites. Molecular components of the clock include the Hes/her family of genes that encode transcriptional repressors, but additional genes cycle. Cyclic gene transcripts are cleared rapidly, and clearance depends upon the pnrc2 (proline-rich nuclear receptor co-activator 2) gene that encodes an mRNA decay adaptor. Previously, we showed that the her1 3'UTR confers instability to otherwise stable transcripts in a Pnrc2-dependent manner, however, the molecular mechanism(s) by which cyclic gene transcripts are cleared remained largely unknown. To identify features of the her1 3'UTR that are critical for Pnrc2-mediated decay, we developed an array of transgenic inducible reporter lines carrying different regions of the 3'UTR. We find that the terminal 179 nucleotides (nts) of the her1 3'UTR are necessary and sufficient to confer rapid instability. Additionally, we show that the 3'UTR of another cyclic gene, deltaC (dlc), also confers Pnrc2-dependent instability. Motif analysis reveals that both her1 and dlc 3'UTRs contain terminally-located Pumilio response elements (PREs) and AU-rich elements (AREs), and we show that the PRE and ARE in the last 179 ânts of the her1 3'UTR drive rapid turnover of reporter mRNA. Finally, we show that mutation of Pnrc2 residues and domains that are known to facilitate interaction of human PNRC2 with decay factors DCP1A and UPF1 reduce the ability of Pnrc2 to restore normal cyclic gene expression in pnrc2 mutant embryos. Our findings suggest that Pnrc2 interacts with decay machinery components and cooperates with Pumilio (Pum) proteins and ARE-binding proteins to promote rapid turnover of cyclic gene transcripts during somitogenesis.
Assuntos
Fatores de Transcrição Hélice-Alça-Hélice Básicos/genética , Fatores de Transcrição Hélice-Alça-Hélice Básicos/metabolismo , Estabilidade de RNA/fisiologia , Transativadores/genética , Transativadores/metabolismo , Proteínas de Peixe-Zebra/genética , Proteínas de Peixe-Zebra/metabolismo , Regiões 3' não Traduzidas , Animais , Relógios Biológicos/genética , Padronização Corporal/genética , Desenvolvimento Embrionário , Endorribonucleases/genética , Endorribonucleases/metabolismo , Regulação da Expressão Gênica no Desenvolvimento , Mesoderma/embriologia , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Estabilidade de RNA/genética , RNA Mensageiro/genética , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Receptores Citoplasmáticos e Nucleares/genética , Somitos/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Peixe-Zebra/embriologiaRESUMO
Vertebrate segmentation is controlled by the segmentation clock, a molecular oscillator that regulates gene expression and cycles rapidly. The expression of many genes oscillates during segmentation, including hairy/Enhancer of split-related (her or Hes) genes, which encode transcriptional repressors that auto-inhibit their own expression, and deltaC (dlc), which encodes a Notch ligand. We previously identified the tortuga (tor) locus in a zebrafish forward genetic screen for genes involved in cyclic transcript regulation and showed that cyclic transcripts accumulate post-splicing in tor mutants. Here we show that cyclic mRNA accumulation in tor mutants is due to loss of pnrc2, which encodes a proline-rich nuclear receptor co-activator implicated in mRNA decay. Using an inducible in vivo reporter system to analyze transcript stability, we find that the her1 3'UTR confers Pnrc2-dependent instability to a heterologous transcript. her1 mRNA decay is Dicer-independent and likely employs a Pnrc2-Upf1-containing mRNA decay complex. Surprisingly, despite accumulation of cyclic transcripts in pnrc2-deficient embryos, we find that cyclic protein is expressed normally. Overall, we show that Pnrc2 promotes 3'UTR-mediated decay of developmentally-regulated segmentation clock transcripts and we uncover an additional post-transcriptional regulatory layer that ensures oscillatory protein expression in the absence of cyclic mRNA decay.
Assuntos
Regiões 3' não Traduzidas/genética , Relógios Biológicos/genética , Padronização Corporal/genética , Transativadores/metabolismo , Proteínas de Peixe-Zebra/metabolismo , Peixe-Zebra/embriologia , Peixe-Zebra/genética , Alelos , Animais , Fatores de Transcrição Hélice-Alça-Hélice Básicos/genética , Fatores de Transcrição Hélice-Alça-Hélice Básicos/metabolismo , Cromossomos/genética , Cromossomos Artificiais Bacterianos/genética , Embrião não Mamífero/metabolismo , Regulação da Expressão Gênica no Desenvolvimento , Genes Reporter , Mutação/genética , Degradação do RNAm Mediada por Códon sem Sentido/genética , Fenótipo , Estabilidade de RNA/genética , RNA Mensageiro/genética , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Transativadores/genética , Proteínas de Peixe-Zebra/genética , Zigoto/metabolismoRESUMO
Heparan sulfate (HS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) glycosaminoglycans (GAG) are proteoglycan-associated polysaccharides with essential functions in animals. They have been studied extensively by genetic manipulation of biosynthetic enzymes, but chemical tools for probing GAG function are limited. HS and CS possess a conserved xylose residue that links the polysaccharide chain to a protein backbone. Here we report that, in zebrafish embryos, the peptide-proximal xylose residue can be metabolically replaced with a chain-terminating 4-azido-4-deoxyxylose (4-XylAz) residue by administration of UDP-4-azido-4-deoxyxylose (UDP-4-XylAz). UDP-4-XylAz disrupted both HS and CS biosynthesis and caused developmental abnormalities reminiscent of GAG biosynthesis and laminin mutants. The azide substituent of protein-bound 4-XylAz allowed for rapid visualization of the organismal sites of chain termination inâ vivo through bioorthogonal reaction with fluorescent cyclooctyne probes. UDP-4-XylAz therefore complements genetic tools for studies of GAG function in zebrafish embryogenesis.
