title: Retinoic acid in the anteroposterior patterning of the zebrafish trunk.
abstract: Retinoic acid has been linked to pattern formation in the vertebrate anteroposterior axis. This report describes the spatial and temporal distributions of both endogenous retinoic acid and retinoic acid synthase activity along the anteroposterior axis of neurulating zebrafish embryos, as detected by a transient transgenic assay and by a zymography bioassay. Both retinoic acid levels and synthase activity were found to be highest in anterior regions of the trunk at all of the stages which were analysed. The drug disulfiram inhibited retinoic acid synthase activity in the zebrafish trunk both in vitro and in vivo, and reduced retinoic acid levels in vivo. Disulfiram treatment of neurulating embryos resulted in larvae with hypertrophic wavy notochords, shortened spinal cords and deformed pectoral fins. The results support the hypothesis that retinoic acid plays a role in the coordination of axial patterning at the developing node/zone of involution, as well as in the subsequent development of anterior trunk structures such as the fins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marsh-Armstrong
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and E. Kennedy Shriver Center, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McCaffery
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hyatt
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Dowling
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and E. Kennedy Shriver Center, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Ursula C
authors.initials: UC
authors.lastname: Dräger
keywords: Axis formation; Disulfiram; Notochord; Retinoic acid; Zebrafish