Effects of Cyclin Dependent Kinase 9 inhibition on zebrafish larvae

Gianfranco Matrone, John J. Mullins, Carl S. Tucker, Martin A. Denvir

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

CDK9 is a known regulator of cellular transcription, growth and proliferation. Small molecule inhibitors are currently being developed and assessed in clinical trials as anti-cancer drugs. The zebrafish embryo provides an ideal model to explore the effects of CDK9 inhibition in-vivo. This has not been adequately explored previously at the level of a whole organism. We have compared and contrasted the effects of pharmacological and molecular inhibition of CDK9 on somatic growth, apoptosis and cellular proliferation in zebrafish larvae between 0 to 120 hours post fertilisation (hpf) using flavopiridol, a selective CDK9 antagonist, and CDK9-targeting morpholino. We demonstrate that the inhibition of CDK9 diminishes cellular proliferation and increases apoptosis. Subsequently, it affects somatic growth and development of a number of key embryonic structures including the brain, heart, eye and blood vessels. For the first time, we have localized CDK9 at a subcellular level in whole-mounted larvae. This works shows, at a high-throughput level, that CDK9 clearly plays a fundamental role in early cellular growth and proliferation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)0
JournalCell Cycle
Early online date7 Oct 2016
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 7 Oct 2016

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