SCL/Tal-1 transcription factor acts downstream of cloche to specify hematopoietic and vascular progenitors in zebrafish
- Eric C. Liao,
- Barry H. Paw,
- Andrew C. Oates,
- Stephen J. Pratt,
- John H. Postlethwait, and
- Leonard I. Zon
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Hospital, Department of Pediatrics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 USA; Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA; Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, PO Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia; Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403 USA
Abstract
SCL/Tal-1 is a transcription factor necessary for hematopoietic stem cell differentiation. Although SCL is also expressed in endothelial and neural progenitors, SCL function in these cells remains unknown. In the zebrafish mutant cloche(clo), SCL expression is nearly abolished in hematopoietic and vascular tissues. Correspondingly, it was shown previously that clo fails to differentiate blood and angioblasts. Genetic analysis demonstrates that the clomutation is not linked to the SCL locus. Forced expression ofSCL in clo embryos rescues the blood and vascular defects, suggesting that SCL acts downstream of clo to specify hematopoietic and vascular differentiation.
Keywords
Footnotes
-
↵Corresponding author.
-
E-MAIL zon{at}rascal.med.harvard.edu; FAX (617) 355-7262.
-
- Received November 21, 1997.
- Accepted January 16, 1998.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
