Functional analysis of zASIP in retinal development. (Molecular Biology and Genetics 02:00 PM, Saturday, April 5, 2003 Brewer/Frost Science 141 Dr. Beth Berger Pritts-Presiding).

Nelson, Scott C. ; Wei, Xiangyun

3:30

The zebrafish retina is a great model to study the molecular mechanisms that control retinal patterning. A previous study indicated that nagie oko, a gene involved in maintaining cellular polarity in the retinal epithelium, is also critical for controlling cellular patterning in the retina. This suggested that other polarity genes may also be required for generating the proper cellular organization of the retina. To test this hypothesis, we isolated and investigated the function of the zebrafish gene zASIP, a homolog of the ASIP/Bazooka/Par-3 gene that is conserved from worms to humans. The zASIP protein possesses the same protein binding domains as the other homologues, which suggests that they are involved in assembling similar protein complexes. Functions of zASIP protein during retinal development were studied using morpholino knock-down technology. Morpholinos are modified DNA oligonucleotides that anneal to mRNAs and reduce their translation. Injection of zASIP morpholinos into 1-2 cell zebrafish embryos revealed that the loss of zASIP function disrupted cellular patterning, but not cell specification, in the zebrafish retina. Further experiments utilizing morpholino knock-down of other polarity genes will give more insight into understanding the genetic pathway involved in cellular patterning.

SCOTT C. NELSON [email protected], XIANGYUN WEI [email protected], UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, DEPT OF BIOLOGY; CAPITAL UNIVERSITY, DEPT OF BIOLOGY, 2199 E MAIN ST, COLUMBUS OH 43209