| Summary: | TNF α-induced protein 1 (<i>TNFAIP1</i>) was first identified in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and can be induced by tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα). Early studies have found that <i>TNFAIP1</i> is involved in the development of many tumors and is closely associated with the neurological disorder Alzheimer’s disease. However, little is known about the expression pattern of <i>TNFAIP1</i> under physiological conditions and its function during embryonic development. In this study, we used zebrafish as a model to illustrate the early developmental expression pattern of <i>tnfaip1</i> and its role in early development. First, we examined the expression pattern of <i>tnfaip1</i> during early zebrafish development using quantitative real-time PCR and whole mount in situ hybridization and found that <i>tnfaip1</i> was highly expressed in early embryonic development and, subsequently, expression became localized to anterior embryonic structures. To investigate the function of <i>tnfaip1</i> during early development, we constructed a model of a stably inherited <i>tnfaip1</i> mutant using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. <i>Tnfaip1</i> mutant embryos showed significant developmental delays as well as microcephaly and microphthalmia. At the same time, we found decreased expression of the neuronal marker genes <i>tuba1b</i>, <i>neurod1</i>, and <i>ccnd1</i> in <i>tnfaip1</i> mutants. Analysis of transcriptome sequencing data revealed altered expression of the embryonic development related genes <i>dhx40</i>, <i>hspa13</i>, <i>tnfrsf19</i>, <i>nppa</i>, <i>lrp2b</i>, <i>hspb9</i>, <i>clul1</i>, <i>zbtb47a</i>, <i>cryba1a</i>, and <i>adgrg4a</i> in the <i>tnfaip1</i> mutants. These findings suggest an important role for <i>tnfaip1</i> in the early development of zebrafish.
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