title: Rbms3 functions in craniofacial development by posttranscriptionally modulating TGF-β signaling.
abstract: Cranial neural crest cells form much of the facial skeleton, and abnormalities in their development lead to severe birth defects. In a novel zebrafish protein trap screen, we identified an RNA-binding protein, Rbms3, that is transiently expressed in the cytoplasm of condensing neural crest cells within the pharyngeal arches. Morphants for rbms3 displayed reduced proliferation of prechondrogenic crest and significantly altered expression for chondrogenic/osteogenic lineage markers. This phenotype strongly resembles cartilage/crest defects observed in Tgf-βr2:Wnt1-Cre mutants, which suggests a possible link with TGF-β signaling. Consistent with this are the findings that: (a) Rbms3 stabilized a reporter transcript with smad2 3' untranslated region, (b) RNA immunoprecipitation with full-length Rbms3 showed enrichment for smad2/3, and (c) pSmad2 levels were reduced in rbms3 morphants. Overall, these results suggest that Rbms3 posttranscriptionally regulates one of the major pathways that promotes chondrogenesis, the transforming growth factor β receptor (TGF-βr) pathway.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. csjay@caltech.edu
authors.forename: Chathurani S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Jayasena
authors.forename: Marianne E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bronner
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002356:Cartilage / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D020219:Chondrogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D019465:Craniofacial Abnormalities / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins