Mechanism of development of ionocytes rich in vacuolar-type H(+)-ATPase in the skin of zebrafish larvae.

ABSTRACT: Mitochondrion-rich cells (MRCs), or ionocytes, play a central role in aquatic species, maintaining body fluid ionic homeostasis by actively taking up or excreting ions. Since their first description in 1932 in eel gills, extensive morphological and physiological analyses have yielded important insights into ionocyte structure and function, but understanding the developmental pathway specifying these cells remains an ongoing challenge. We previously succeeded in identifying a key transcription factor, Foxi3a, in zebrafish larvae by database mining. In the present study, we analyzed a zebrafish mutant, quadro (quo), deficient in foxi1 gene expression and found that foxi1 is essential for development of an MRC subpopulation rich in vacuolar-type H(+)-ATPase (vH-MRC). foxi1 acts upstream of De

SUBMITTER: Esaki M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2751791 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature