The Calcineurin-FoxO-MuRF1 signaling pathway regulates myofibril integrity in cardiomyocytes.

Altered Ca2+ handling is often present in diseased hearts undergoing structural remodeling and functional deterioration. However, whether Ca2+ directly regulates sarcomere structure has remained elusive. Using a zebrafish ncx1 mutant, we explored the impacts of impaired Ca2+ homeostasis on myofibril integrity. We found that the E3 ubiquitin ligase murf1 is upregulated in ncx1-deficient hearts. Intriguingly, knocking down murf1 activity or inhibiting proteasome activity preserved myofibril integrity, revealing a MuRF1-mediated proteasome degradation mechanism that is activated in response to abnormal Ca2+ homeostasis. Furthermore, we detected an accumulation of the murf1 regulator FoxO in the nuclei of ncx1-deficient cardiomyocytes. Overexpression of FoxO in wild type cardiomyocytes induced murf1 expression and caused myofibril disarray, whereas inhibiting Calcineurin activity attenuated FoxO-mediated murf1 expression and protected sarcomeres from degradation in ncx1-deficient hearts. Together, our findings reveal a novel mechanism by which Ca2+ overload disrupts myofibril integrity by activating a Calcineurin-FoxO-MuRF1-proteosome signaling pathway

Involvement of zebrafish Na+,K+ ATPase in myocardial cell junction maintenance

Na+,K+ ATPase is an essential ion pump involved in regulating ionic concentrations within epithelial cells. The zebrafish heart and mind (had) mutation, which disrupts the α1B1 subunit of Na+,K+ ATPase, causes heart tube elongation defects and other developmental abnormalities that are reminiscent of several epithelial cell polarity mutants, including nagie oko (nok). We demonstrate genetic interactions between had and nok in maintaining Zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1)–positive junction belts within myocardial cells. Functional tests and pharmacological inhibition experiments demonstrate that Na+,K+ ATPase activity is positively regulated via an N-terminal phosphorylation site that is necessary for correct heart morphogenesis to occur, and that maintenance of ZO-1 junction belts requires ion pump activity. These findings suggest that the correct ionic balance of myocardial cells is essential for the maintenance of epithelial integrity during heart morphogenesis

Mutation in utp15 Disrupts Vascular Patterning in a p53-Dependent Manner in Zebrafish Embryos

Angiogenesis is the process by which the highly branched and functional vasculature arises from the major vessels, providing developing tissues with nutrients, oxygen, and removing metabolic waste. During embryogenesis, vascular patterning is dependent on a tightly regulated balance between pro- and anti-angiogenic signals, and failure of angiogenesis leads to embryonic lethality. Using the zebrafish as a model organism, we sought to identify genes that influence normal vascular patterning.In a forward genetic screen, we identified mutant LA1908, which manifests massive apoptosis during early embryogenesis, abnormal expression of several markers of arterial-venous specification, delayed angiogenic sprouting of the intersegmental vessels (ISV), and malformation of the caudal vein plexus (CVP), indicating a critical role for LA1908 in cell survival and angiogenesis. Genetic mapping and sequencing identified a G to A transition in the splice site preceding exon 11 of utp15 in LA1908 mutant embryos. Overexpression of wild type utp15 mRNA suppresses all observed mutant phenotypes, demonstrating a causative relationship between utp15 and LA1908. Furthermore, we found that injecting morpholino oligonucleotides inhibiting p53 translation prevents cell death and rescues the vascular abnormalities, indicating that p53 is downstream of Utp15 deficiency in mediating the LA1908 phenotypes.Taken together, our data demonstrate an early embryonic effect of Utp15 deficiency on cell survival and the normal patterning of the vasculature and highlight an anti-angiogenic role of p53 in developing embryos

Mutation in utp15 disrupts vascular patterning in a p53-dependent manner in zebrafish embryos.

BackgroundAngiogenesis is the process by which the highly branched and functional vasculature arises from the major vessels, providing developing tissues with nutrients, oxygen, and removing metabolic waste. During embryogenesis, vascular patterning is dependent on a tightly regulated balance between pro- and anti-angiogenic signals, and failure of angiogenesis leads to embryonic lethality. Using the zebrafish as a model organism, we sought to identify genes that influence normal vascular patterning.Methodology and principal findingsIn a forward genetic screen, we identified mutant LA1908, which manifests massive apoptosis during early embryogenesis, abnormal expression of several markers of arterial-venous specification, delayed angiogenic sprouting of the intersegmental vessels (ISV), and malformation of the caudal vein plexus (CVP), indicating a critical role for LA1908 in cell survival and angiogenesis. Genetic mapping and sequencing identified a G to A transition in the splice site preceding exon 11 of utp15 in LA1908 mutant embryos. Overexpression of wild type utp15 mRNA suppresses all observed mutant phenotypes, demonstrating a causative relationship between utp15 and LA1908. Furthermore, we found that injecting morpholino oligonucleotides inhibiting p53 translation prevents cell death and rescues the vascular abnormalities, indicating that p53 is downstream of Utp15 deficiency in mediating the LA1908 phenotypes.Conclusions and significanceTaken together, our data demonstrate an early embryonic effect of Utp15 deficiency on cell survival and the normal patterning of the vasculature and highlight an anti-angiogenic role of p53 in developing embryos

Tbx20 drives cardiac progenitor formation and cardiomyocyte proliferation in zebrafish

Tbx20 is a T-box transcription factor that plays essential roles in the development and maintenance of the heart. Although it is expressed by cardiac progenitors in all species examined, an involvement of Tbx20 in cardiac progenitor formation in vertebrates has not been previously described. Here we report the identification of a zebrafish tbx20 mutation that results in an inactive, truncated protein lacking any functional domains. The cardiac progenitor population is strongly diminished in this mutant, leading to the formation of a small, stretched-out heart. We found that overexpression of Tbx20 results in an enlarged heart with significantly more cardiomyocytes. Interestingly, this increase in cell number is caused by both enhanced cardiac progenitor cell formation and the proliferation of differentiated cardiomyocytes, and is dependent upon the activity of Tbx20's T-box and transcription activation domains. Together, our findings highlight a previously unappreciated role for Tbx20 in promoting cardiac progenitor formation in vertebrates and reveal a novel function for its activation domain in cardiac cell proliferation during embryogenesis

Two developmentally distinct populations of neural crest cells contribute to the zebrafish heart

Cardiac neural crest cells are essential for outflow tract remodeling in animals with divided systemic and pulmonary circulatory systems, but their contributions to cardiac development in animals with a single-loop circulatory system are less clear. Here we genetically labeled neural crest cells and examined their contribution to the developing zebrafish heart. We identified two populations of neural crest cells that contribute to distinct compartments of zebrafish cardiovascular system at different developmental stages. A stream of neural crest cells migrating through pharyngeal arches 1 and 2 integrates into the myocardium of the primitive heart tube between 24 and 30 h post fertilization and gives rise to cardiomyocytes. A second wave of neural crest cells migrating along aortic arch 6 envelops the endothelium of the ventral aorta and invades the bulbus arteriosus after three days of development. Interestingly, while inhibition of FGF signaling has no effect on the integration of neural crest cells to the primitive heart tube, it prevents these cells from contributing to the outflow tract, demonstrating disparate responses of neural crest cells to FGF signaling. Furthermore, neural crest ablation in zebrafish leads to multiple cardiac defects, including reduced heart rate, defective myocardial maturation and a failure to recruit progenitor cells from the second heart field. These findings add to our understanding of the contribution of neural crest cells to the developing heart and provide insights into the requirement for these cells in cardiac maturation