NQO1, NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1, was first identified in rat and its role has been extensively studied. Even the roles of NQO1 in the maintenance of physiological function and disease were largely addressed, whether the tissue specific functions of the NQO1 in organ development remains unknown. In the current study, we identified two NQO1 isoforms (isoform 1 and isoform 2) and examined the expression of nqo1 variants in adult zebrafish organs and embryos at different stages. In adult organs, RT-PCR result indicated that nqo1 variant 1 was mainly expressed in stomach and intestine, while nqo1 variant 2 was expressed in all organs investigated except for heart. Further, RT-PCR result showed that the nqo1 variant 1 and variant 2 were expressed at all the embryonic stages, but nqo1 variant 1 expression level was much lower than that of nqo1 variant 2. To specifically examine the expression pattern of these two different nqo1 variants, we did whole mount in situ hybridization and the results demonstrated that, both of them were maternally expressed at 8-cell stage, and they were all expressed ubiquitously at early stage. At 24 hpf, nqo1 variant 2 was mainly expressed in yolk cells, and slightly in head and eyes. At 48 hpf, nqo1 variant 2 was restricted in lateral line neuromasts. From 72 hpf to 144 hpf, nqo1 variant 2 was mainly restricted in branchial arch, liver, swimming bladder and lateral line neuromasts, while from 124 hpf to 192 hpf, nqo1 variant 2 only restricted in liver, and disappeared in lateral line neuromasts. On the contrary, at the late embryonic stage, nqo1 variant 1 was only expressed in liver and swimming bladder while not in branchial arch and lateral line neuromasts. In conclusion, we systematically analyzed the expression pattern of nqo1 variant 1 and variant 2 in zebrafish at different embryonic stages, and our data implied the possible role of nqo1 in regulating liver, branchial arch and lateral neuromasts development.

NQO1，NAD(P)H：醌氧化还原酶 1，首先在大鼠中发现，其作用已得到广泛研究。甚至 NQO1 在维持生理功能和疾病中的作用也得到了很大程度的解决，但 NQO1 在器官发育中的组织特异性功能是否仍然未知。在目前的研究中，我们鉴定了两种 NQO1 同种型（同种型 1 和同种型 2），并检查了nqo1变体在不同阶段成年斑马鱼器官和胚胎中的表达。在成人器官中，RT-PCR 结果表明nqo1变异 1 主要在胃和肠中表达，而nqo1变异 2 在除心脏外的所有器官中均有表达。此外，RT-PCR 结果显示nqo1变体1和变体2在所有胚胎阶段都有表达，但nqo1变体1的表达水平远低于nqo1变体2。为了具体检查这两种不同的nqo1变体的表达模式，我们进行了原位杂交和结果表明，两者均在8细胞期为母系表达，且均在早期普遍表达。在 24 hpf 时，nqo1变体 2 主要在卵黄细胞中表达，在头部和眼睛中略有表达。在 48 hpf 时，nqo1变体 2 被限制在侧线神经瘤中。从 72 hpf 到 144 hpf，nqo1变异2主要局限在鳃弓、肝脏、膀胱和侧线神经瘤中，而从124 hpf到192 hpf，nqo1变异2只局限在肝脏，在侧线神经瘤中消失。相反，在胚胎晚期，nqo1变体1仅在肝脏和膀胱中表达，而在鳃弓和侧线神经瘤中不表达。总之，我们系统地分析了斑马鱼不同胚胎阶段nqo1变体 1 和变体 2的表达模式，我们的数据暗示了nqo1在调节肝脏、鳃弓和外侧神经瘤发育中的可能作用。