Transcription factors from Sox family regulate expression of zebrafish Gla-rich protein 2 gene

•We report the identification of a functional promoter for zebrafish grp2 gene.•Transcription factors Sox, Mef2 and Ets1 are regulators for grp2 gene.•Results confirmed that Sox9b and Sox10 were able to regulate grp2 promoter in vivo.•Sox10 is a bona fide transcription regulator of grp2 gene.

GRP is a vitamin K-dependent protein with orthologs in all vertebrate taxonomic groups and two paralogs in teleosts. However, no data is available about GRP transcriptional gene regulation. We report a functional promoter for zebrafish grp2 gene regulated by Sox9b, Sox10, Ets1 and Mef2ca as determined by in vitro assays. This was confirmed in vivo for Sox9b and Sox10. Due to the high conservation between human GRP and grp2, its zebrafish ortholog, our results are relevant for the study of human GRP gene regulation and provide new insights towards understanding GRP function.