Spatiotemporal expression analysis of Prdm1 and Prdm1 binding partners in early chick embryo

Prdm1 is a global repressor of transcription that plays multiple important roles during embryonic development, including neural crest specification. Prdm1 acts by repressing large sets of genes via sequence-specific recruitment of co-repressors, many of which are epigenetic modifiers. It is not known whether Prdm1 is expressed during neural crest development in chick embryo. Moreover, the mechanism of Prdm1 action or the nature of possible binding partners that mediate its effects in the neural crest had not yet been addressed. Prdm1 binding partners are known to play important roles during embryonic development, yet in many cases no spatiotemporal expression analysis during early vertebrate development has been performed. In this paper we report the expression patterns of Prdm1 and seven of its known or putative binding partners (Hdac1 and 2, Tle1 and 3, G9a, Prmt5, Lsd1) during early stages of chicken embryogenesis. Prdm1 is expressed in the neural plate border and premigratory neural crest during chick development. Six Prdm1 binding partners (except Tle1) are co-expressed with Prdm1 in the prospective neural plate border at HH4-HH6, and all seven show strong and specific expression in the neural plate border at HH7-HH8, suggesting all of them may cooperate with Prdm1 during neural crest development in chick embryos.