Journal of Biological Chemistry
Volume 285, Issue 6, 5 February 2010, Pages 4110-4121
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Molecular Basis of Cell and Developmental Biology
Dnmt3 and G9a Cooperate for Tissue-specific Development in Zebrafish2

https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M109.073676Get rights and content
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Although DNA methylation is critical for proper embryonic and tissue-specific development, how different DNA methyltransferases affect tissue-specific development and their targets remains unknown. We address this issue in zebrafish through antisense-based morpholino knockdown of Dnmt3 and Dnmt1. Our data reveal that Dnmt3 is required for proper neurogenesis, and its absence results in profound defects in brain and retina. Interestingly, other organs such as intestine remain unaffected suggesting tissue-specific requirements of Dnmt3. Further, comparison of Dnmt1 knockdown phenotypes with those of Dnmt3 suggested that these two families have distinct functions. Consistent with this idea, Dnmt1 failed to complement Dnmt3 deficiency, and Dnmt3 failed to complement Dnmt1 deficiency. Downstream of Dnmt3 we identify a neurogenesis regulator, lef1, as a Dnmt3-specific target gene that is demethylated and up-regulated in dnmt3 morphants. Knockdown of lef1 rescued neurogenesis defects resulting from Dnmt3 absence. Mechanistically, we show cooperation between Dnmt3 and an H3K9 methyltransferase G9a in regulating lef1. Further, like Dnmt1-Suv39h1 cooperativity, Dnmt3 and G9a seemed to function together for tissue-specific development. G9a knockdown, but not Suv39h1 loss, phenocopied dnmt3 morphants and G9a overexpression provided a striking rescue of dnmt3 morphant phenotypes, whereas Suv39h1 overexpression failed, supporting the notion of specific DNMT-histone methyltransferase networks. Consistent with this model, H3K9me3 levels on the lef1 promoter were reduced in both dnmt3 and g9a morphants, and its knockdown rescued neurogenesis defects in g9a morphants. We propose a model wherein specific DNMT-histone methyltransferase networks are utilized to silence critical regulators of cell fate in a tissue-specific manner.

Brain
Chromatin
Histone Modification
DNA methyltransferase
Neurodevelopment
Zebrafish
DNA Methylation
Dnmt1
Dnmt3
G9a
Histone Methylation

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This work was supported, in whole or in part, by National Institutes of Health Grant R01 HD058506 (to D. A. J. and B. R. C.) and by NCI Grants R01 CA116468 and R01 CA11674 (to D. A. J. and A. R. K.). This work was also supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (to B. R. C.), the Huntsman Cancer Foundation (to D. A. J. and B. R. C.), and Cancer Center Support Grant CA042014.

The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental Figs. S1–S8 and Tables SI and SII.