Cytoplasmic expression of ribozyme in zebrafish using a T7 autogene system

A cytoplasmic ribozyme expression system, based on codelivery of a ribozyme vector, a T7 autogene vector, and T7 RNA polymerase (RNAP), has been developed and used to generate a specific phenotype in zebrafish by targeting a no tail (ntl) mRNA. The expression of the no tail ribozyme sequence is under the control of a tandem of two promoters: The T7 promoter and an adenoviral va 1 (pol III) promoter. The coinjection of the ribozyme vector pT7vaRz, the T7 autogene vector pT7T7, and the T7 RNAP resulted in rapid synthesis of the ribozyme against the ntl mRNA in the cytoplasm of the injected zebrafish embryos, generating no tail phenotypes in up to 10-20% of the injected embryos. The phenotypic change rates have been found to be related to the concentrations of the plasmid vectors and T7 RNAP injected and to the ratios of the three injected components. This cytoplasmic ribozyme expression system may be useful for efficiently targeting other mRNA and for various biomedical applications. These potential applications may include rapid identification of biological functions of novel genes from zebrafish and humans based on partial gene sequence information and gene therapy of genetic and acquired diseases.