Dorz1, a novel gene expressed in differentiating cerebellar granule neurons, is down-regulated in Zic1-deficient mouse.
The Zic1 gene encodes a zinc finger protein that controls vertebrate neural development. A previous study showed that Zic1 is expressed in developing and mature cerebellar granule neurons, and that Zic1-deficient cerebellum is hypoplastic and lacks a lobule of the anterior lobe. In the present study, we searched for genes de-regulated in the cerebellum to understand the molecular basis of cerebellar development. A novel gene, Dorz1, was identified and characterized as one of the most significantly down-regulated genes in Zic1-deficient cerebellum by the DNA microarray analysis. The expression of Dorz1 in the developing cerebellum peaked at embryonic day 17.5, and at that stage Dorz1 transcripts were detected in cerebellar granule neuron precursors where Zic1 expression is enhanced. In addition, Dorz1 expression was up-regulated in cultured cells overexpressing Zic1. These results suggest that Dorz1 expression is positively regulated by Zic1 during cerebellar development.
Hoshino
Jun
J
Laboratory for Developmental Neurobiology, RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0918, Japan.
Aruga
Jun
J
Ishiguro
Akira
A
Mikoshiba
Katsuhiko
K
D000375:Aging; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006867:Hydrolases; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007211:Indoles / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051379:Mice; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D014162:Transfection
C481062:ABHD14A protein, human; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C481061:Dorz1 protein, mouse; D007211:Indoles; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors; C492123:ZIC1 protein, human; C492122:Zic1 protein, mouse; C007293:DAPI; D006867:Hydrolases