Identification and characterization of Veph, a novel gene encoding a PH domain-containing protein expressed in the developing central nervous system of vertebrates
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Abstract
We isolated Veph, a novel gene encoding a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain-containing
protein from a mouse. Veph was strongly expressed in the embryonic brain, and its
expression level gradually decreased in later stages. In situ hybridization analysis
of sectioned embryo brains revealed that Veph was expressed exclusively in the ventricular
zone. We then isolated a zebrafish orthologue of Veph (zVeph). As observed in the
mouse gene, zVeph was expressed in the ventricular zone of developing brain and spinal
cord. Blockage of zVeph expression by injection of zVeph-specific morpholino antisense
oligo into zebrafish fertilized eggs resulted in a defect in the midbrain-hindbrain
boundary and otic vesicle formation, suggesting the important function of zVeph in
central nervous system (CNS) development. On the other hand, homozygous knockout mice
of Veph showed no significant defect in the CNS, pointing to possible different functions
of Veph between the zebrafish and mouse.