Nature 360, 87 - 89 (05 November 1992); doi:10.1038/360087a0

Zebrafish pax[b] is involved in the formation of the midbrain–hindbrain boundary

Stefan Krauss^*, Malcolm Maden, Nigel Holder & Stephen W. Wilson

Developmental Biology Research Centre, Randall Institute, Division of Biomedical Sciences, King's College, 26–29 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5RL, UK
^*Present address: ICRF, Developmental Biology Unit, Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford 0X1 3PS, UK

AMONG the genes thought to be involved in patterning the nervous system are a family of developmentally regulated paired box-containing (Pax) genes. Mutations in some of these Pax genes lead to severe developmental abnormalities. Zebrafish pax[b] (pax[zf-b]) is a member of the Pax gene family that is expressed in the presumptive posterior midbrain from the end of gastrulation and, at later stages, in other localized regions of the developing embryo¹. Here we show that injection of antibodies raised against the pax[b] protein causes a localized malformation at the mid-brain–hindbrain boundary. In situ hybridizations demonstrate that antibody injection causes downregulation of pax[b] transcripts in the posterior midbrain and alteration of wnt-1 and eng-2 expression in this area. The data demonstrate an involvement of pax[b] in the formation of the midbrain–hindbrain junction.

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