Molecular and Functional Divergence of Zebrafish Sox Paralogs Controlling Endoderm Formation and Left-Right Patterning.

ABSTRACT: Endoderm, one of three primary germ layers of vertebrate embryos, makes major contributions to the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts and associated organs, including the liver and pancreas. In mammals, transcription factor (TF) SOX17 is vital for endoderm organ formation and can induce endoderm progenitor identity. Duplication of ancestral sox17 before or during the early evolution of ray-finned fishes produced paralogs sox32 and sox17 in zebrafish. Sox32 is required for specification of endoderm and progenitors of the left-right (LR) organizer (Kupffer's Vesicle, KV), with Sox17 a downstream target of Sox32 implicated in further KV development. Phenotypic evidence, therefore, suggests functional similarities between zebrafish Sox32 and Sox17 and mammalian SOX17. Here, we directly co

SUBMITTER: Johal S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12648240 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature