Gas2l3 is essential for brain morphogenesis and development

Growth arrest-specific 2-like 3 (Gas2l3) is a newly discovered cell cycle protein and a cytoskeleton orchestrator that binds both actin filament and microtubule networks. Studies of cultured mammalian cells established Gas2l3 as a regulator of the cell division process, in particular cytokinesis and cell abscission. Thus far, the role of Gas2l3 in vivo remains entirely unknown. In order to investigate Gas2l3 in developing vertebrates, we cloned the zebrafish gene. Spatiotemporal analysis of gas2l3 expression revealed a ubiquitous maternal transcript as well as a zygotic transcript primarily restricted to brain tissues. We next conducted a series of loss-of-function experiments, and searched for developmental anomalies at the end of the segmentation period. Our analysis revealed abnormal brain morphogenesis and ventricle formation in gas2l3 knockdown embryos. This signature phenotype could be rescued by elevated levels of gas2l3 RNA. At the tissue level, gas2l3 downregulation interferes with cell proliferation, suggesting that the cell cycle activities of Gas2l3 are essential for brain tissue homeostasis. Altogether, this study provides the first insight into the function of gas2l3 in vivo, demonstrating its essential role in brain development.