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Briefings in Functional Genomics and Proteomics Advance Access published online on February 22, 2006
Briefings in Functional Genomics and Proteomics, doi:10.1093/bfgp/ell008
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© Oxford University Press, 2006, All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Paper

Insertional mutagenesis in zebrafish: genes for development, genes for disease

Adam Amsterdam *

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Adam Amsterdam, E-mail: aha{at}MIT.EDU


  Abstract

In order to rapidly identify a substantial fraction of the genes with a unique and essential role in vertebrate development, the laboratory of Nancy Hopkins at MIT has performed a large insertional mutagenesis screen in zebrafish using a pseudotyped retroviral vector as the mutagen. We have recovered mutations in about one-quarter of the embryonic essential genes in this organism, and have identified the mutated genes in nearly all of these (333). As the ease of gene identification allowed us to clone the mutated genes for nearly all of the mutants rather than prioritizing based upon the initially observed phenotypes, this has provided an unbiased view of the diversity of genes required for vertebrate development as well as a large collection of mutants to be screened for more specific phenotypes. In collaboration with other labs, we have screened the insertional mutant for the development of a variety of organs and cell types, as well as phenotypes that could represent disease models, such as cystic kidney and hepatomegaly. Furthermore, while all of these mutants are embryonic lethal in their homozygous state, we are investigating the heterozygous adults for additional phenotypes, such as cancer predisposition.

Keywords: zebrafish; retrovirus; vertebrate genetics; cystic kidney; hepatomegaly; cancer.

Adam Amsterdam is a Research Scientist in the Center for Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is supported by a grant from the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health.


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