Smyd5 plays pivotal roles in both primitive and definitive hematopoiesis during zebrafish embryogenesis

Methylation of histone tails plays a pivotal role in the regulation of a wide range of biological processes. SET and MYND domain-containing protein (SMYD) is a methyltransferase, five family members of which have been identified in humans. SMYD1, SMYD2, SMYD3, and SMYD4 have been found to play critical roles in carcinogenesis and/or the development of heart and skeletal muscle. However, the physiological functions of SMYD5 remain unknown. To investigate the function of Smyd5 in vivo, zebrafish were utilised as a model system. We first examined smyd5 expression patterns in developing zebrafish embryos. Smyd5 transcripts were abundantly expressed at early developmental stages and then gradually decreased. Smyd5 was expressed in all adult tissues examined. Loss-of-function analysis of Smyd5 was then performed in zebrafish embryos using smyd5 morpholino oligonucleotide (MO). Embryos injected with smyd5-MO showed normal gross morphological development, including of heart and skeletal muscle. However, increased expression of both primitive and definitive hematopoietic markers, including pu.1, mpx, l-plastin, and cmyb, were observed. These phenotypes of smyd5-MO zebrafish embryos were also observed when we introduced mutations in smyd5 gene with the CRISPR/Cas9 system. As the expression of myeloid markers was elevated in smyd5 loss-of-function zebrafish, we propose that Smyd5 plays critical roles in hematopoiesis.