Cited by 122Developmental Biology and Gene RegulationGrowth Hormone and Insulin-like Growth FactorsZebrafish Biomedical Research Applications

Zebrafish IGF genes: gene duplication, conservation and divergence, and novel roles in midline and notochord development

Open access
Zou, Shuming, Kamei, Hiroyasu, Modi, Zubin, Duan, Cunming·2009·PLoS ONE

Abstract

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are key regulators of development, growth, and longevity. In most vertebrate species including humans, there is one IGF-1 gene and one IGF-2 gene. Here we report the identification and functional characterization of 4 distinct IGF genes (termed as igf-1a, -1b, -2a, and -2b) in zebrafish. These genes encode 4 structurally distinct and functional IGF peptides. IGF-1a and IGF-2a mRNAs were detected in multiple tissues in adult fish. IGF-1b mRNA was detected only in the gonad and IGF-2b mRNA only in the liver. Functional analysis showed that all 4 IGFs caused similar developmental defects but with different potencies. Many of these embryos had fully or partially duplicated notochords, suggesting that an excess of IGF signaling causes defects in the midline formation and an expansion of the notochord. IGF-2a, the most potent IGF, was analyzed in depth. IGF-2a expression caused defects in the midline formation and expansion of the notochord but it did not alter the anterior neural patterning. These results not only provide new insights into the functional conservation and divergence of the multiple igf genes but also reveal a novel role of IGF signaling in midline formation and notochord development in a vertebrate model.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0007026

Cites

65 of 65 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Human IGF-1 acts via zebrafish receptors because the mature peptide shares about 81% identity with zebrafish IGF-1, including key receptor-binding residues, and human and zebrafish IGF-IR share over 80% similarity with conserved ligand-binding residues.

    “We suspected human IGF-1 would act via zebrafish receptors because the mature peptide shares ~81% identity with that of zebrafish (Zou et al., 2009), including key residues important for receptor binding (Gauguin et al., 2008). Furthermore, human and zebrafish IGF-IR share over 80% similarity and key residues involved in ligand binding are preserved (Ayaso et al., 2002; Renteria et al., 2008).”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zou, S., Kamei, H., Modi, Z., & Duan, C.
Affiliations
University of Michigan (US)
Corresponding author
Duan, Cunming
Venue
PLoS ONE
Published
2009-09-17
Volume
4
Issue
9
Pages
e7026
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1986850329
Cited by
122
References
64
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 9
FWCI
4.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (0110864)
  • China Scholarship Council
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Growth Hormone and Insulin-like Growth Factors
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Zebrafish Biomedical Research Applications
Keywords
insulin-like growth factor, gene duplication, functional divergence, notochord development, IGF signaling, zebrafish, gonads, liver
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Cloning, Molecular, Neurons, Notochord, Phylogeny, RNA, Messenger, Somatomedins, Zebrafish, Signal Transduction, Open Reading Frames, In Situ Hybridization, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Body Patterning, Gene Duplication

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review