Abstract
BDNF and its specialized receptor TrkB are expressed in the developing lateral line system of zebrafish, but their role in this organ is unknown. To tackle this problem in vivo, we used transgenic animals expressing fluorescent markers in different cell types of the lateral line and combined a BDNF gain-of-function approach by BDNF mRNA overexpression and by soaking embryos in a solution of BDNF, with a loss-of-function approach by injecting the antisence ntrk2b-morpholino and treating embryos with the specific Trk inhibitor K252a. Subsequent analysis demonstrated that the BDNF-TrkB axis regulates migration of the lateral line primordium. In particular, BDNF-TrkB influences the expression level of components of chemokine signaling including Cxcr4b, and the generation of progenitors of mechanoreceptors, at the level of expression of Atoh1a-Atp2b1a.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / physiology*
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Cell Movement
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Embryonic Stem Cells / physiology*
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Fish Proteins / physiology*
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Gene Expression
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Lateral Line System / cytology
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Lateral Line System / embryology*
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Mechanoreceptors / physiology*
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Receptor, trkB / metabolism*
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Zebrafish / embryology*
Substances
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Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
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Fish Proteins
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Receptor, trkB
Grants and funding
EG and LR were supported by the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Science and a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR). The grant numbers are 11-08-01046-a and 13-04-01009-a. VK was supported by a grant of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research of Singapore. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.