Meeting Abstract
To better understand gene regulatory networks controlling neurogenesis in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, we manipulated levels of the gene NvashA, a transcription factor involved in development of a subset of the embryonic nervous system. We assessed expression of potential target genes during the late blastula stage, when NvashA is first expressed. Because NvashA is downregulated by treatment with Mek inhibitor UO126, we chose transcription factors that showed altered expression level in response to UO126 treatment in a custom genome-wide microarray. Of more than fifty UO126-regulated transcription factors identified by microarray, twenty-three are expressed in a spatial pattern similar to NvashA. NvashA is expressed in single cells spread throughout the embryonic ectoderm during the late blastula and early gastrula stages, a pattern common to genes involved in neural development. Of these twenty-four candidates, we identified downstream targets of NvashA using quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization following altered levels of NvashA. Interaction with NvashA indicates a possible role in gene networks controlling neurogenesis. Nine of the twenty-four transcription factors are unaffected by altered NvashA expression levels. These transcription factors may act upstream of NvashA, may be involved in processes other than neurogenesis, or may regulate NvashA-independent neurogenesis. Future work investigating the effects of manipulating levels of these identified UO126 targets will further illuminate neurogenesis regulatory networks.
