Expression analyses of zebrafish transferrin, ifabp, and elastaseB mRNAs as differentiation markers for the three major endodermal organs:: Liver, intestine, and exocrine pancreas

In the present work, three zebrafish cDNA clones encoding transferrin, intestinal fatty acid binding protein (IFABP), and elastaseB were cloned and their expression patterns in early zebrafish development were characterized as differentiation markers for the three major endoderm organs: liver, intestine, and exocrine pancreas. transferrin and ifabp mRNAs exhibit a biphasic expression pattern during early development. transferrin mRNAs were first expressed at similar to7 hours postfertilization (hpf] in the yolk syncytial layer (YSL) and later in the liver rudiment (from similar to48 hpf] and in the esophagus transiently (72-96 hp. lfabp mRNAs were initially expressed in the YSL at the ventral side during late epiboly (8-9 hpf), spread throughout the YSL of later stage embryos, and appeared in the intestine rudiment at similar to36 hpf. In contrast to the transferrin and ifabp mRNAs, elastaseB mRNAs were not expressed in the yolk sac or YSL, and these transcripts were detected exclusively in the exocrine pancreas after similar to56 hpf. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.