Gas2l3 is essential for brain morphogenesis and development

Yaara Sharaby, Roxane Lahmi, Omer Amar, Idan Elbaz, Tali Lerer-Goldshtein, Aryeh M. Weiss, Lior Appelbaum, Amit Tzur

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Growth arrest-specific 2-like 3 (Gas2l3) is a newly discovered cell cycle protein and a cytoskeleton orchestrator that binds both actin filament and microtubule networks. Studies of cultured mammalian cells established Gas2l3 as a regulator of the cell division process, in particular cytokinesis and cell abscission. Thus far, the role of Gas2l3 in vivo remains entirely unknown. In order to investigate Gas2l3 in developing vertebrates, we cloned the zebrafish gene. Spatiotemporal analysis of gas2. l3 expression revealed a ubiquitous maternal transcript as well as a zygotic transcript primarily restricted to brain tissues. We next conducted a series of loss-of-function experiments, and searched for developmental anomalies at the end of the segmentation period. Our analysis revealed abnormal brain morphogenesis and ventricle formation in gas2. l3 knockdown embryos. This signature phenotype could be rescued by elevated levels of gas2. l3 RNA. At the tissue level, gas2. l3 downregulation interferes with cell proliferation, suggesting that the cell cycle activities of Gas2l3 are essential for brain tissue homeostasis. Altogether, this study provides the first insight into the function of gas2. l3 in vivo, demonstrating its essential role in brain development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)305-313
Number of pages9
JournalDevelopmental Biology
Volume394
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Oct 2014

Keywords

  • Brain morphogenesis
  • Cell proliferation
  • Cytoskeleton
  • Spectraplakin

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Molecular Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology

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