Takechi Masaki, Hamaoka Takanori, Kawamura Shoji
Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan.
FEBS Lett. 2003 Oct 9;553(1-2):90-4. doi: 10.1016/s0014-5793(03)00977-3.
Cone photoreceptor cells of fish retinae are arranged in a highly organized fashion. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying photoreceptor development and retinal pattern formation are largely unknown. Here we established transgenic lines of zebrafish carrying green fluorescent protein (GFP) cDNA with the 5.5-kb upstream region of the ultraviolet-sensitive cone opsin gene (SWS1). In the transgenic fish, GFP gene expression proceeded in the same spatiotemporal pattern as SWS1 in the retinae of embryos. In the adult retina, GFP expression was observed throughout the short single cone (SSC) layer where SWS1 is specifically expressed. Therefore, the transgenic fish provides an excellent genetic background to study retinal pattern formation, photoreceptor determination and differentiation, and factors regulating these processes and SSC-specific expression of SWS1.
鱼类视网膜的视锥光感受器细胞以高度有序的方式排列。然而，光感受器发育和视网膜模式形成背后的分子机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。在这里，我们建立了携带绿色荧光蛋白（GFP）cDNA与紫外敏感视锥视蛋白基因（SWS1）5.5 kb上游区域的斑马鱼转基因品系。在转基因鱼中，GFP基因在胚胎视网膜中的表达模式与SWS1相同。在成体视网膜中，在SWS1特异性表达的整个短单锥（SSC）层中观察到GFP表达。因此，转基因鱼为研究视网膜模式形成、光感受器的确定和分化以及调节这些过程和SWS1的SSC特异性表达的因素提供了一个极好的遗传背景。
