title: Smyd3 is required for the development of cardiac and skeletal muscle in zebrafish.
abstract: Modifications of histone tails are involved in the regulation of a wide range of biological processes including cell cycle, cell survival, cell division, and cell differentiation. Among the modifications, histone methylation plays a critical role in cardiac and skeletal muscle differentiation. In our earlier studies, we found that SMYD3 has methyltransferase activity to histone H3 lysine 4, and that its up-regulation is involved in the tumorigenesis of human colon, liver, and breast. To clarify the role of Smyd3 in development, we have studied its expression patterns in zebrafish embryos and the effect of its suppression on development using Smyd3-specific antisense morpholino-oligonucleotides. We here show that transcripts of smyd3 were expressed in zebrafish embryos at all developmental stages examined and that knockdown of smyd3 in embryos resulted in pericardial edema and defects in the trunk structure. In addition, these phenotypes were associated with abnormal expression of three heart-chamber markers including cmlc2, amhc and vmhc, and abnormal expression of myogenic regulatory factors including myod and myog. These data suggest that Smyd3 plays an important role in the development of heart and skeletal muscle.
authors: Division of Clinical Genome Research, Advanced Clinical Research Center, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Tomoaki
authors: T
authors: Fujii
authors: Shin-ichiro
authors: S
authors: Tsunesumi
authors: Kiyoshi
authors: K
authors: Yamaguchi
authors: Sumiko
authors: S
authors: Watanabe
authors: Yoichi
authors: Y
authors: Furukawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology*; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D060172:Morpholinos / Q000494:pharmacology; D024510:Muscle Development / Q000187:drug effects; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D060172:Morpholinos; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D011495:Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase