MIRNA130A REGULATES ZEBRAFISH NEUROGENESIS BY TARGETING THE DELTA-NOTCH PATHWAY

Abstract

miRNA130a regulates zebrafish neurogenesis by targeting the Delta-Notch pathway

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, 18-25 nucleotide RNA molecules that function as negative regulators of gene expression in eukaryotic organisms. They are involved in the regulation of gene expression during development, cell proliferation, differentiation, metabolism, apoptosis, and cancer. In this study, I analyzed the role of miRNA130a during neural development in zebrafish. Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) in situ hybridization showed that miRNA130a is expressed ubiquitously in the central nervous system with particularly high levels in the brain starting from 24 hours post fertilization. Knock-down of miRNA130a resulted in disorganization of the mitotic progenitor domains and increased expression of deltaA, notch3 and neurogenin1, as well as defective neural differentiation. This suggests that miRNA130a is involved in the fine tuning of neural progenitor proliferation and differentiation in zebrafish. This is further supported by bioinformatics analysis and over-expression data which provide evidence that miRNA130a targets her12, one of hairy/enhancer-of-split-related paralogs in zebrafish. This indicates that miRNA130a controls neurogenesis by modulation of Delta-Notch signaling.