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Retinoic acid in the anteroposterior patterning of the zebrafish trunk

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Abstract

Retinoic acid has been linked to pattern formation in the vertebrate anteroposterior axis. This report describes the spatial and temporal distributions of both endogenous retinoic acid and retinoic acid synthase activity along the anteroposterior axis of neurulating zebrafish embryos, as detected by a transient transgenic assay and by a zymography bioassay. Both retinoic acid levels and synthase activity were found to be highest in anterior regions of the trunk at all of the stages which were analysed. The drug disulfiram inhibited retinoic acid synthase activity in the zebrafish trunk both in vitro and in vivo, and reduced retinoic acid levels in vivo. Disulfiram treatment of neurulating embryos resulted in larvae with hypertrophic wavy notochords, shortened spinal cords and deformed pectoral fins. The results support the hypothesis that retinoic acid plays a role in the coordination of axial patterning at the developing node/zone of involution, as well as in the subsequent development of anterior trunk structures such as the fins.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Nicholas Marsh-Armstrong, George Hyatt, Laura Alonso, John E. Dowling & Walter Gilbert

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and E. Kennedy Shriver Center, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA

    Peter McCaffery & Ursula C. Dräger

Authors
  1. Nicholas Marsh-Armstrong
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  2. Peter McCaffery
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  3. George Hyatt
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  4. Laura Alonso
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  5. John E. Dowling
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  6. Walter Gilbert
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  7. Ursula C. Dräger
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Marsh-Armstrong, N., McCaffery, P., Hyatt, G. et al. Retinoic acid in the anteroposterior patterning of the zebrafish trunk. Roux's Arch Dev Biol 205, 103–113 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00357756

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00357756

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