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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplementary figures All Versions of this Article: JOE-08-0221v1 198/3/451    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Xie, J. Articles by Ning, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Xie, J. Articles by Ning, G.

¹ School of Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Disease² State Key Laboratory for Medical Genomics, School of Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, 197 Ruijin Road II, Shanghai 200025, People's Republic of China³ Laboratory of Development and Diseases, School of Medical, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Jiaotong University, Chongqing South Road 225, Shanghai 200025, People's Republic of China

(Correspondence should be addressed to G Ning; Email: guangning{at}medmail.com.cn)

^* (J Xie and W-Q Wang contributed equally to this work)

Chromogranin A (CHGA), a protein participating in the biogenesis of dense core secretory granules in various neuroendocrine tissues, plays a critical role in the release of hormones/peptides and the pathogenesis of pheochromocytoma. However, little is known about the developmental origin of CHGA-expressing cells during embryogenesis. Here, we report the structural characterization and spatio-temporal expression pattern of zebrafish (Danio rerio) ortholog of mammalian CHGA. The earliest expression of chga transcripts was observed at 16 h post fertilization in the developing cranial ganglia as six distinct cellular masses arranged bilaterally as strings of beads in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) precursors along the dorsal trunk. With development advancing, the chga transcripts were expressed abundantly in diencephalon, mesencephalon, and rhombencephalon as well as in the DRG. Interestingly, double in situ hybridization assay of chga with genes expressed in pronephros (Wilms' tumor suppressor 1, wt1), adrenal cortex (side-chain cleavage enzyme, scc), and sympathoadrenal neuron/chromaffin cell (dopamine-β-hydroxylase, dbh), respectively, showed that the chga-expressing cells are spatially separated from wt1-, scc-, and dbh-positive cell populations during early embryonic development. The pronephros region does not express chga even up to 7 days post fertilization, while chga positive-staining cells bind in the brain and DRG, indicating that chga may play an important role in nervous system development during the early embryonic stages.