title: Fgf21 is essential for haematopoiesis in zebrafish.
abstract: Fibroblast growth factors (Fgfs) function as key secreted signalling molecules in many developmental events. The zebrafish is a powerful model system for the investigation of embryonic vertebrate haematopoiesis. Although the effects of Fgf signalling on haematopoiesis in vitro have been reported, the functions of Fgf signalling in haematopoiesis in vivo remain to be explained. We identified Fgf21 in zebrafish embryos. Fgf21-knockdown zebrafish embryos lacked erythroid and myeloid cells but not blood vessels and lymphoid cells. The knockdown embryos had haemangioblasts and haematopoietic stem cells. However, the knockdown embryos had significantly fewer myeloid and erythroid progenitor cells. In contrast, Fgf21 had no significant effect on cell proliferation and apoptosis in the intermediate cell mass. These results indicate that Fgf21 is a newly identified factor essential for the determination of myelo-erythroid progenitor cell fate in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetic Biochemistry, Kyoto University Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Yoshida-Shimoadachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Yuhei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hotta
authors.forename: Morichika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Konishi
authors.forename: Ayumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: Atsuo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawahara
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Itoh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002875:Chromosomes; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D015672:Erythroid Precursor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense / Q000494:pharmacology; D010802:Phylogeny; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C414620:fibroblast growth factor 21; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors