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Cloning and developmental expression of five estrogen-receptor related genes in the zebrafish

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Abstract

Estrogen-receptor related receptors (ERRα, β and γ) are so-called orphan (i.e. for which no natural ligand has been identified to date) nuclear receptors that are closely related to the estrogen receptors. To gain insights into the possible functions of ERRs during early development, we have cloned their homologs in the zebrafish. Five err cDNA types were recovered in a PCR screen. Transient transfection experiments indicated that zebrafish ERRα, ERRγ and ERRδ display transcriptional activities that are identical to those of their mammalian counterparts. The expression patterns of err genes were determined during zebrafish development. Tissues such as the hindbrain or the pronephric tubes express several errs whereas others, such as the presumptive mesoderm at the level of the margin, specifically express a single err. Our analysis also points to tissues in which err expression is conserved through evolution, such as slow muscles that specifically express errα, suggesting important functions in these tissues.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Région Rhône-Alpes, Ligue contre le Cancer (comités Ardèche, Drôme and Loire) and Proskelia Pharmaceuticals (Romainville) for financial support. We thank Marc Robinson-Rechavi for help with gene phylogeny.

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Author notes

  1. Jean-Marc Vanacker

    Present address: Laboratoire Génome et Cancer, INSERM EMI229, CRLC Val d’Aurelle, 34298, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire de la Cellule, CNRS UMR 5161, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 allée d’Italie, 69364, Lyon Cedex 07, France

    Pierre-Luc Bardet, Vincent Laudet & Jean-Marc Vanacker

  2. Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS/INSERM/ULP, BP 163, 67404, Illkirch Cedex, France

    Sophie Obrecht-Pflumio, Christine Thisse & Bernard Thisse

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  1. Pierre-Luc Bardet
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  2. Sophie Obrecht-Pflumio
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  3. Christine Thisse
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  4. Vincent Laudet
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  5. Bernard Thisse
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  6. Jean-Marc Vanacker
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Correspondence to Vincent Laudet.

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Edited by D. Tautz

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Bardet, PL., Obrecht-Pflumio, S., Thisse, C. et al. Cloning and developmental expression of five estrogen-receptor related genes in the zebrafish. Dev Genes Evol 214, 240–249 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-004-0404-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-004-0404-6

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