Overexpression of thyroid hormone receptor α1 during zebrafish embryogenesis disrupts hindbrain patterning and implicates retinoic acid receptors in the control of hox gene expression

1999 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Essner ◽  
Ross G. Johnson ◽  
Perry B. Hackett
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Retinoic Acid ◽  
Thyroid Hormone ◽  
Hormone Receptor ◽  
Thyroid Hormone Receptor ◽  
Retinoic Acid Receptors ◽  
Hox Gene ◽  
Zebrafish Embryogenesis

scholarly journals Thyroid hormone receptor can modulate retinoic acid-mediated axis formation in frog embryogenesis.

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 7540-7552 ◽  
Author(s):  
D E Banker ◽  
R N Eisenman
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Retinoic Acid ◽  
Thyroid Hormone ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Hormone Receptor ◽  
Hormone Receptors ◽  
Thyroid Hormone Receptor ◽  
Retinoic Acid Receptor ◽  
Thyroid Hormone Receptors ◽  
Axis Formation

Thyroid hormone receptor acts as a hormone-dependent transcriptional transactivator and as a transcriptional repressor in the absence of thyroid hormone. Specifically, thyroid hormone receptor can repress retinoic acid-induced gene expression through interactions with retinoic acid receptor. (Retinoic acid is a potent teratogen in the frog Xenopus laevis, acting at early embryonic stages to interfere with the formation of anterior structures. Endogenous retinoic acid is thought to act in normal anterior-posterior axis formation.) We have previously shown that thyroid hormone receptor RNA (alpha isotype) is expressed and polysome-associated during Xenopus embryogenesis preceding thyroid gland maturation and endogenous thyroid hormone production (D. E. Banker, J. Bigler, and R. N. Eisenman, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:5079-5089, 1991). To determine whether thyroid hormone receptor might influence the effects of retinoic acid in early frog development, we have examined the results of ectopic thyroid hormone receptor expression on retinoic acid teratogenesis. We demonstrate that microinjections of full-length thyroid hormone receptor RNA protect injected embryos from retinoic acid teratogenesis. DNA binding is apparently essential to this protective function, as truncated thyroid hormone receptors, lacking DNA-binding domains but including hormone-binding and dimerization domains, do not protect from retinoic acid. We have shown that microinjections of these dominant-interfering thyroid hormone receptors, as well as anti-thyroid hormone receptor antibodies, increase retinoic acid teratogenesis in injected embryos, presumably by inactivating endogenous thyroid hormone receptor. This finding suggests that endogenous thyroid hormone receptors may act to limit retinoic acid sensitivity. On the other hand, after thyroid hormone treatment, ectopic thyroid hormone receptor mediates teratogenesis that is indistinguishable from the dorsoanterior deficiencies produced in retinoic acid teratogenesis. The previously characterized retinoic acid-responsive gene, Xhox.lab2, can be induced by thyroid hormone in embryos ectopically expressing thyroid hormone receptor and is less responsive to retinoic acid in such embryos. The fact that both thyroid hormone and retinoic acid can affect overlapping gene expression pathways to produce abnormal embryonic axes and can regulate the same early-expressed gene suggests a model in which thyroid hormone receptor blocks retinoic acid receptor-mediated teratogenesis by directly repressing retinoic acid-responsive genes.

Thyroid hormone receptor can modulate retinoic acid-mediated axis formation in frog embryogenesis

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 7540-7552
Author(s):  
D E Banker ◽  
R N Eisenman
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Retinoic Acid ◽  
Thyroid Hormone ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Hormone Receptor ◽  
Hormone Receptors ◽  
Thyroid Hormone Receptor ◽  
Retinoic Acid Receptor ◽  
Thyroid Hormone Receptors ◽  
Axis Formation

Thyroid hormone receptor acts as a hormone-dependent transcriptional transactivator and as a transcriptional repressor in the absence of thyroid hormone. Specifically, thyroid hormone receptor can repress retinoic acid-induced gene expression through interactions with retinoic acid receptor. (Retinoic acid is a potent teratogen in the frog Xenopus laevis, acting at early embryonic stages to interfere with the formation of anterior structures. Endogenous retinoic acid is thought to act in normal anterior-posterior axis formation.) We have previously shown that thyroid hormone receptor RNA (alpha isotype) is expressed and polysome-associated during Xenopus embryogenesis preceding thyroid gland maturation and endogenous thyroid hormone production (D. E. Banker, J. Bigler, and R. N. Eisenman, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:5079-5089, 1991). To determine whether thyroid hormone receptor might influence the effects of retinoic acid in early frog development, we have examined the results of ectopic thyroid hormone receptor expression on retinoic acid teratogenesis. We demonstrate that microinjections of full-length thyroid hormone receptor RNA protect injected embryos from retinoic acid teratogenesis. DNA binding is apparently essential to this protective function, as truncated thyroid hormone receptors, lacking DNA-binding domains but including hormone-binding and dimerization domains, do not protect from retinoic acid. We have shown that microinjections of these dominant-interfering thyroid hormone receptors, as well as anti-thyroid hormone receptor antibodies, increase retinoic acid teratogenesis in injected embryos, presumably by inactivating endogenous thyroid hormone receptor. This finding suggests that endogenous thyroid hormone receptors may act to limit retinoic acid sensitivity. On the other hand, after thyroid hormone treatment, ectopic thyroid hormone receptor mediates teratogenesis that is indistinguishable from the dorsoanterior deficiencies produced in retinoic acid teratogenesis. The previously characterized retinoic acid-responsive gene, Xhox.lab2, can be induced by thyroid hormone in embryos ectopically expressing thyroid hormone receptor and is less responsive to retinoic acid in such embryos. The fact that both thyroid hormone and retinoic acid can affect overlapping gene expression pathways to produce abnormal embryonic axes and can regulate the same early-expressed gene suggests a model in which thyroid hormone receptor blocks retinoic acid receptor-mediated teratogenesis by directly repressing retinoic acid-responsive genes.

scholarly journals The thyroid hormone receptor gene (c-erbA alpha) is expressed in advance of thyroid gland maturation during the early embryonic development of Xenopus laevis.

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 5079-5089 ◽  
Author(s):  
D E Banker ◽  
J Bigler ◽  
R N Eisenman
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Thyroid Hormone ◽  
Thyroid Gland ◽  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Hormone Receptor ◽  
Hormone Receptors ◽  
Thyroid Hormone Receptor ◽  
Thyroid Hormone Receptors ◽  
Stages Of Development ◽  
Xenopus Development

The c-erbA proto-oncogene encodes the thyroid hormone receptor, a ligand-dependent transcription factor which plays an important role in vertebrate growth and development. To define the role of the thyroid hormone receptor in developmental processes, we have begun studying c-erbA gene expression during the ontogeny of Xenopus laevis, an organism in which thyroid hormone has well-documented effects on morphogenesis. Using polymerase chain reactions (PCR) as a sensitive assay of specific gene expression, we found that polyadenylated erbA alpha RNA is present in Xenopus cells at early developmental stages, including the fertilized egg, blastula, gastrula, and neurula. By performing erbA alpha-specific PCR on reverse-transcribed RNAs from high-density sucrose gradient fractions prepared from early-stage embryos, we have demonstrated that these erbA transcripts are recruited to polysomes. Therefore, erbA is expressed in Xenopus development prior to the appearance of the thyroid gland anlage in tailbud-stage embryos. This implies that erbA alpha/thyroid hormone receptors may play ligand-independent roles during the early development of X. laevis. Quantitative PCR revealed a greater than 25-fold range in the steady-state levels of polyadenylated erbA alpha RNA across early stages of development, as expressed relative to equimolar amounts of total embryonic RNA. Substantial increases in the levels of erbA alpha RNA were noted at stages well after the onset of zygotic transcription at the mid-blastula transition, with accumulation of erbA alpha transcripts reaching a relative maximum in advance of metamorphosis. We also show that erbA alpha RNAs are expressed unequally across Xenopus neural tube embryos. This differential expression continues through later stages of development, including metamorphosis. This finding suggests that erbA alpha/thyroid hormone receptors may play roles in tissue-specific processes across all of Xenopus development.

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