Gas213 is essential for brain morphogenesis and development

Growth arrest-specific 2-like 3 (Gas213) is a newly discovered cell cycle protein and a cytoskeleton orchestrator that binds both actin filament and microtubule networks. Studies of cultured mammalian cells established Gas2I3 as a regulator of the cell division process, in particular cytokinesis and cell abscission. Thus far, the role of Gas213 in vivo remains entirely unknown. In order to investigate Gas213 in developing vertebrates, we cloned the zebrafish gene. Spatiotemporal analysis of gas2I3 expression revealed a ubiquitous maternal transcript as well as a zygotic transcript primarily restricted to brain tissues. We next conducted a series of loss-of-function experiments, and searched for developmental anomalies at the end of the segmentation period. Our analysis revealed abnormal brain morphogenesis and ventricle formation in gas2I3 knockdown embryos. This signature phenotype could be rescued by elevated levels of gas213 RNA. At the tissue level, gas2I3 downregulation interferes with cell proliferation, suggesting that the cell cycle activities of Gas213 are essential for brain tissue homeostasis. Altogether, this study provides the first insight into the function of gas213 in vivo, demonstrating its essential role in brain development. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.