Melk-like kinase plays a role in hematopoiesis in the zebra fish.

ABSTRACT: A serine/threonine kinase, Melk, was initially cloned in mouse oocytes as a maternal gene, but whose function was unknown. In adult mice, Melk was strongly expressed in the thymus and bone marrow, suggesting a role for Melk in hematopoiesis. We cloned a Melk-like gene from zebra fish (zMelk). zMelk-like gene was expressed in the brain and lateral mesoderm at 12 hours postfertilization (hpf) and in several tissues of adult fish, including the kidney and spleen, both of which are known to be hematopoietic tissues in zebra fish. Abrogation of zMelk-like gene function by zMelk-like gene-specific Morpholino (MO) resulted in abnormal swelling around the tectum region. In addition, the start of blood circulation was severely delayed but, in contrast, the vessel formation seemed normal. Expression

SUBMITTER: Saito R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1190327 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature