Involvement of Delta/Notch signaling in zebrafish adult pigment stripe patterning.

ABSTRACT: The skin pigment pattern of zebrafish is a good model system in which to study the mechanism of biological pattern formation. Although it is known that interactions between melanophores and xanthophores play a key role in the formation of adult pigment stripes, molecular mechanisms for these interactions remain largely unknown. Here, we show that Delta/Notch signaling contributes to these interactions. Ablation of xanthophores in yellow stripes induced the death of melanophores in black stripes, suggesting that melanophores require a survival signal from distant xanthophores. We found that deltaC and notch1a were expressed by xanthophores and melanophores, respectively. Moreover, inhibition of Delta/Notch signaling killed melanophores, whereas activation of Delta/Notch signaling ectopicall

SUBMITTER: Hamada H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3879813 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature