The zebrafish retinoid-related orphan receptor (ror) gene family

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.modgep.2007.02.001Get rights and content

Abstract

The retinoid-related orphan receptors Rora, b and c are highly conserved transcription factors belonging to the steroid hormone receptor superfamily. Mammalian ROR proteins perform key regulatory roles in a number of processes during embryonic development and in the adult including neurogenesis, bone metabolism and modulation of circadian rhythms. A more recent area of interest has been their roles in the development and function of the immune system. In particular, RORA has been implicated in the regulation of inflammatory cytokine production, and RORC has been shown to be essential in the development of the T lymphocyte repertoire and of secondary lymphoid organs. We cloned the zebrafish orthologs for the Ror gene family. Assignment of orthologies was supported by analysis of the phylogenetic relationships between zebrafish and other vertebrate Ror genes based on sequence similarities, and conserved syntenies with the human Ror gene loci.

Section snippets

Results and discussion

Retinoid-related orphan receptors (ROR) (Nuclear Receptor Committee, 1999) belong to the nuclear hormone receptor family that performs diverse roles in embryonic development and physiological processes (Dzhagalov et al., 2004b, Jetten, 2004, Jetten et al., 2001, Jetten and Ueda, 2002). The mammalian ROR family consisting of RORA, B and C (Human Gene Nomenclature Committee) more commonly referred to as ROR α, β and γ, respectively, are evolutionarily related transcription factors with homologs

Zebrafish stocks and embryo collection

Wild-type zebrafish (D. rerio) embryos were obtained from natural spawnings, raised in embryo medium (E3) at 28.5 °C (Westerfield, 2000), and developmentally staged as described (Kimmel et al., 1995).

Cloning of the zebrafish ror genes

The EST zgc:55954 (Accession No.: BC051158; cDNA clone MGC:55954; IMAGE:3819342) has been predicted to represent zebrafish rora. Zebrafish rorb and rorc sequences were cloned by RT-PCR from adult cDNA preparations using the following primers (5′–3′):

rorb (1438 bp): GAGCGAGTCGCCAACACTATGCGAG and

Acknowledgements

We thank Lisa Pullin and Christopher Taylor for their technical assistance, and Alhad Mahagaonkar for managing the zebrafish facility. This work was supported by a grant from the Foundation for Research Science and Technology of New Zealand.

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