Copper ions impair zebrafish skeletal myofibrillogenesis via epigenetic regulation

Unbalanced copper (Cu²⁺ ) homeostasis is associated with the developmental defects of vertebrate myogenesis, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, it was found that Cu²⁺ stressed zebrafish embryos and larvae showed reduced locomotor speed as well as loose and decreased myofibrils in skeletal muscle, coupled with the downregulated expression of muscle fiber markers mylpfa and smyhc1l and the irregular arrangement of myofibril and sarcomere. Meanwhile, the Cu²⁺ stressed zebrafish embryos and larvae also showed significant reduction in the expression of H3K4 methyltransferase smyd1b transcripts and H3K4me3 protein as well as in the binding enrichment of H3K4me3 on gene mylpfa promoter in skeletal muscle cells, suggesting that smyd1b-H3K4me3 axis mediates the Cu²⁺ -induced myofibrils specification defects. Additionally, whole genome DNA methylation sequencing unveiled that the gene smyd5 exhibited significant promoter hyper-methylation and increased expression in Cu²⁺ stressed embryos, and the ectopic expression of smyd5 in zebrafish embryos also induced the myofibrils specification defects as those observed in Cu²⁺ stressed embryos. Moreover, Cu²⁺ was shown to suppress myofibrils specification and smyd1b promoter transcriptional activity directly independent of the integral function of copper transporter cox17 and atp7b. All these data may shed light on the linkage of unbalanced copper homeostasis with specific gene promoter methylation and epigenetic histone protein modification as well as the resultant signaling transduction and the myofibrillogenesis defects.

A compact unc45b-promoter drives muscle-specific expression in zebrafish and mouse

Summary: Gene therapeutic approaches to cure genetic diseases require tools to express the rescuing gene exclusively within the affected tissues. Viruses are often chosen as gene transfer vehicles but they have limited capacity for genetic information to be carried and transduced. In addition, to avoid off‐target effects the therapeutic gene should be driven by a tissue‐specific promoter in order to ensure expression in the target organs, tissues, or cell populations. The larger the promoter, the less space will be left for the respective gene. Thus, there is a need for small but tissue‐specific promoters. Here, we describe a compact unc45b promoter fragment of 195 bp that retains the ability to drive gene expression exclusively in skeletal and cardiac muscle in zebrafish and mouse. Remarkably, the described unc45b promoter fragment not only drives muscle‐specific expression but presents heat‐shock inducibility, allowing a temporal and spatial quantity control of (trans)gene expression. Here, we demonstrate that the transgenic expression of the smyd1b gene driven by the unc45b promoter fragment is able to rescue the embryonically lethal heart and skeletal muscle defects in smyd1b‐deficient flatline mutant zebrafish. Our findings demonstrate that the described muscle‐specific unc45b promoter fragment might be a valuable tool for the development of genetic therapies in patients suffering from myopathies. genesis 54:431–438, 2016. © 2016 The Authors. Genesis Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.