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The prion or the related Shadoo protein is required for early mouse embryogenesis
Author(s) -
Young Rachel,
Passet Bruno,
Vilotte Marthe,
Cribiu Edmond P.,
Béringue Vincent,
Le Provost Fabienne,
Laude Hubert,
Vilotte Jean-Luc
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2009.09.027
Subject(s) - phenotype , biology , gene knockdown , knockout mouse , embryo , embryogenesis , gene knockout , gene , prion protein , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , pathology , medicine , disease
The prion protein PrP has a key role in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies but its biological function remains largely unknown. Recently, a related protein, Shadoo, was discovered. Its biological properties and brain distribution partially overlap that of PrP. We report that the Shadoo‐encoding gene knockdown in PrP‐knockout mouse embryos results in a lethal phenotype, occurring between E8 and E11, not observed on the wild‐type genetic background. It reveals that these two proteins play a shared, crucial role in mammalian embryogenesis, explaining the lack of severe phenotype in PrP‐knockout mammals, an appreciable step towards deciphering the biological role of this protein family.