title: Slitrk gene duplication and expression in the developing zebrafish nervous system.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Slitrk family of leucine-rich repeat (LRR) transmembrane proteins bears structural similarity to the Slits and the Trk receptor families, which exert well-established roles in directing nervous system development. Slitrks are less well understood, although they are highly expressed in the developing vertebrate nervous system. Moreover, slitrk variants are associated with several sensory and neuropsychiatric disorders, including myopia, deafness, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, and Tourette syndrome. Loss-of-function studies in mice show that Slitrks modulate neurite outgrowth and inhibitory synapse formation, although the molecular mechanisms of Slitrk function remain poorly characterized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As a prelude to examining the functional roles of Slitrks, we identified eight slitrk orthologs in zebrafish and observed that seven of the eight orthologs were actively transcribed in the nervous system at embryonic, larval, and adult stages. Similar to previous findings in mice and humans, zebrafish slitrks exhibited unique but overlapping spatial and temporal expression patterns in the developing brain, retina, and spinal cord.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Zebrafish express Slitrks in the developing central nervous system at times and locations important to neuronal morphogenesis and synaptogenesis. Future studies will use zebrafish as a convenient, cost-effective model organism to characterize the functional roles of Slitrks in nervous system development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Program in Neuroscience, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Round
authors.forename: Brittany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Angel
authors.forename: Kayla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lom
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D020440:Gene Duplication / Q000235:genetics*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D012160:Retina / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins
keywords: Danio rerio; in situ hybridization; leucine-rich repeat (LRR); neuronal development; retina; spinal cord