GSE117754
Critical roles of lysine demethylase Kdm3a in craniofacial and neural development during Xenopus embryogenesis
The epigenetic modifier lysine-specific histone demethylase 3a (kdm3a) is specific for demethylation of mono- and di-methylated 9th lysine of histone H3 (H3K9me1/2) and belongs to the Jumonji domain-containing group of demethylases. Kdm3a is known to play significant roles during various biological and pathophysiological processes such as spermatogenesis and metabolism, determination of sex, androgen receptor-mediated transcription, and embryonic carcinoma cell differentiation. In the current study, we evaluated the physiological functions of kdm3a during Xenopus laevis embryogenesis. Spatiotemporal expression pattern indicated maternal nature of kdm3a, exhibiting its expression from early embryonic stages until tadpole stage, however considerable high level of expression were observed during the neurula stage of Xenopus development. Depleting kdm3a using kdm3a antisense morpholino oligonucleotides induced anomalies, such as head deformities and small-sized eyes. Our whole-mount in situ hybridization results demonstrated that kdm3a knockdown is associated with defects in neural crest formation and migration. Further, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction revealed abnormal expression of neural markers in kdm3a morphants. RNA sequencing of kdm3a morphants indicated that kdm3a is implicated in mesoderm formation, cell adhesion, and metabolic processes of embryonic development. In conclusion, we suggest that kdm3a is critical for neural development during Xenopus embryogenesis and can be targeted for treatment of developmental disorders. The further detailed investigation is required to understand the molecular mechanism involved in neural development regulation by kdm3a. Overall design: Collect mRNA from whole embryos; two biological replicates were analyzed