title: Nodal promotes mir206 expression to control convergence and extension movements during zebrafish gastrulation.
abstract: Nodal, a member of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily, has been shown to play a role in mesendoderm induction and gastrulation movements. The activity of Nodal signaling can be modulated by microRNAs (miRNAs) as previously reported, but little is known about which miRNAs are regulated by Nodal during gastrulation. In the present study, we found that the expression of mir206, one of the most abundant miRNAs during zebrafish early embryo development, is regulated by Nodal signaling. Abrogation of Nodal signal activity results in defective convergence and extension (CE) movements, and these cell migration defects can be rescued by supplying an excess of mir206, suggesting that mir206 acts downstream of Nodal signaling to regulate CE movements. Furthermore, in mir206 morphants, the expression of cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin is significantly increased, while the key transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin, snail1a, is depressed. Our study uncovers a novel mechanism by which Nodal-regulated mir206 modulates gastrulation movements in connection with the Snail/E-cadherin pathway.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xiuli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yuanqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Congwei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D054262:Gastrulation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D055456:Nodal Signaling Ligands / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015027:Zebrafish; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D055456:Nodal Signaling Ligands; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins
keywords: Convergence and extension; E-cadherin; Nodal; mir206; snail1a