Zebrafish thymidylate synthase binds to its own mRNA in vitro and in vivo

Thymidylate synthase (TS), an essential enzyme for DNA de novo synthesis, is a critical therapeutic target in cancer therapy. Previous study has shown that TS was able to bind to its own mRNA in human and E.coli, resulting in translational repression. Zebrafish is the best animal model for vertebrate study. In order to study the regulatory mechanism of zebrafish TS, the enzyme were expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and it was purified to homogeneity. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was used to detect the interaction of zebrafish TS protein and its own TS transcript in vitro and the results showed that zebrafish TS could bound with its own mRNA specifically. Further study revealed that zebrafish TS was able to interact with its own mRNA in vivo using immunoprecipitation : RT-PCR technique. The results provide evidence that zebrafish may be developed as an useful model for studying the anti-metabolism agents.

Thymidylate synthase (TS), an essential enzyme for DNA de novo synthesis, is a critical therapeutic target in cancer therapy. Previous study has shown that TS was able to bind to its own mRNA in human and E.coli, resulting in translational repression. Zebrafish is the best animal model for vertebrate study. In order to study the regulatory mechanism of zebrafish TS, the enzyme were expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and it was purified to homogeneity. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was used to detect the interaction of zebrafish TS protein and its own TS transcript in vitro and the results showed that zebrafish TS could bound with its own mRNA specifically. Further study revealed that zebrafish TS was able to interact with its own mRNA in vivo using immunoprecipitation : RT-PCR technique. The results provide evidence that zebrafish may be developed as an useful model for studying the anti-metabolism agents.