Sun1 mediates interkinetic nuclear migration and Notch signaling in the neurogenesis of zebrafish

Interkinetic nuclear migration (INM) is a process by which nuclei oscillate between the basal and apical surfaces of epithelial cells in coordination with the cell cycle. The cytoskeletal machinery including microtubules and actin have been reported to drive apical INM, however, the role of nuclear proteins in this process has yet to be fully elucidated. Here we investigated the function of a SUN-domain protein, Sun1, in zebrafish. We found that zebrafish Sun1 is highly expressed in the ventricular zone of the brain. Knocking down sun1 with an antisense morpholino oligonucleotides reduced the abundance of nestin- and gfap- expressing neural stem cells and progenitor cells. The live-cell imaging results showed that sun1 morphant cells migrated toward the basal side during the S phase, but failed to migrate apically during the G2 phase. On the other hand, the passive stochastic movement during the G2 phase was unaffected. Furthermore, down-regulating sun1 was shown to reduce the expression of genes associated with the Notch pathway, whereas the expression of genes in the Wnt pathway was less perturbed. Findings from this research suggest that the Sun1-mediated nucleo-cytoskeletal interaction contributes to apical nuclear migration, and may thus affect exposure to Notch signal, thereby altering the composition of the progenitor pool, in the embryonic neurogenesis of zebrafish.