Functions of SMC2 in the Development of Zebrafish Liver

Xixi Li; Guili Song; Yasong Zhao; Jing Ren; Qing Li; Zongbin Cui

doi:10.3390/biomedicines9091240

Functions of SMC2 in the Development of Zebrafish Liver

Biomedicines. 2021 Sep 16;9(9):1240. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9091240.

Authors

Xixi Li¹, Guili Song², Yasong Zhao^{2

3}, Jing Ren¹, Qing Li², Zongbin Cui^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Culture Collection and Application, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510070, China.
² Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
³ College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.

Abstract

SMC2 (structural maintenance of chromosomes 2) is the core subunit of condensins, which play a central role in chromosome organization and segregation. However, the functions of SMC2 in embryonic development remain poorly understood, due to the embryonic lethality of homozygous SMC2^-/- mice. Herein, we explored the roles of SMC2 in the liver development of zebrafish. The depletion of SMC2, with the CRISPR/Cas9-dependent gene knockout approach, led to a small liver phenotype. The specification of hepatoblasts was unaffected. Mechanistically, extensive apoptosis occurred in the liver of SMC2 mutants, which was mainly associated with the activation of the p53-dependent apoptotic pathway. Moreover, an aberrant activation of a series of apoptotic pathways in SMC2 mutants was involved in the defective chromosome segregation and subsequent DNA damage. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that SMC2 is necessary for zebrafish liver development.

Keywords: DNA damage; SMC2; apoptosis; liver development; zebrafish.

Abstract

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