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eLife Sciences Publications, eLife, (9), 2020

DOI: 10.7554/elife.57068

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MondoA regulates gene expression in cholesterol biosynthesis-associated pathways required for zebrafish epiboly

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The glucose-sensing Mondo pathway regulates expression of metabolic genes in mammals. Here, we characterized its function in the zebrafish and revealed an unexpected role of this pathway in vertebrate embryonic development. We showed that knockdown ofmondoaimpaired the early morphogenetic movement of epiboly in zebrafish embryos and caused microtubule defects. Expression of genes in the terpenoid backbone and sterol biosynthesis pathways upstream of pregnenolone synthesis was coordinately downregulated in these embryos, including the most downregulated genensdhl. Loss of Nsdhl function likewise impaired epiboly, similar to MondoA loss of function. Both epiboly and microtubule defects were partially restored by pregnenolone treatment. Maternal-zygotic mutants ofmondoashowed perturbed epiboly with low penetrance and compensatory changes in the expression of terpenoid/sterol/steroid metabolism genes. Collectively, our results show a novel role for MondoA in the regulation of early vertebrate development, connecting glucose, cholesterol and steroid hormone metabolism with early embryonic cell movements.