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Updated: Dec 25, 2025
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Assessment of Zebrafish Lens Nucleus Localization and Sutural Integrity
Published on: May 6, 2019
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PRPS polymerization influences lens fiber organization in zebrafish
Kyle Begovich1,2, Deborah Yelon2, James E Wilhelm1,2
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Summer Institute, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA.
Summary
Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase (PRPS) filaments are crucial for zebrafish eye development. Disrupting PRPS assembly in zebrafish leads to smaller eyes and disorganized lens fibers, revealing PRPS
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Developmental Biology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Metabolic enzymes self-assemble into filaments or foci, regulating metabolic activity.
- Conserved polymerization of phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase (PRPS) identified in yeast and mammalian cells.
- PRPS catalyzes the initial step of purine nucleotide synthesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the role of PRPS filament formation in zebrafish tissue development, specifically eye development.
- Understand the functional consequences of PRPS polymerization in a whole organism context.
Main Methods:
- Generated novel alleles in zebrafish PRPS paralogs (prps1a and prps1b).
- Analyzed eye development, head size, pigmentation, and swim bladder inflation in generated mutants.
- Assessed PRPS filament assembly and actin network organization in lens fibers.
Main Results:
- Mutations in prps1a caused significantly smaller eyes, reduced head size, pigmentation defects, and impaired swim bladder inflation.
- A loss-of-function mutation truncating Prps1a abolished PRPS filament assembly.
- Zebrafish lacking PRPS filaments exhibited disorganized actin networks within lens fibers.
Conclusions:
- Truncation of Prps1a disrupts PRPS filament formation, leading to a disorganized lens fiber actin network.
- PRPS filaments play a potential role in the organization of lens fibers during zebrafish development.
