PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Frank Crittenden
AU  - Holly Thomas
AU  - Cheryl M. Ethen
AU  - Zhengliang L. Wu
AU  - Dongquan Chen
AU  - Timothy W. Kraft
AU  - John M. Parant
AU  - Charles N. Falany
TI  - Inhibition of SULT4A1 Expression Induces Up-Regulation of Phototransduction Gene Expression in 72-Hour Postfertilization Zebrafish Larvae
AID  - 10.1124/dmd.114.057042
DP  - 2014 May 01
TA  - Drug Metabolism and Disposition
PG  - 947--953
VI  - 42
IP  - 5
4099  - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/42/5/947.short
4100  - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/42/5/947.full
SO  - Drug Metab Dispos2014 May 01; 42
AB  - Sulfotransferase (SULT) 4A1 is an orphan enzyme that shares distinct structure and sequence similarities with other cytosolic SULTs. SULT4A1 is primarily expressed in neuronal tissue and is also the most conserved SULT, having been identified in every vertebrate investigated to date. Certain haplotypes of the SULT4A1 gene are correlated with higher baseline psychopathology in schizophrenic patients, but no substrate or function for SULT4A1 has yet been identified despite its high level of sequence conservation. In this study, deep RNA sequencing was used to search for alterations in gene expression in 72-hour postfertilization zebrafish larvae following transient SULT4A1 knockdown (KD) utilizing splice blocking morpholino oligonucleotides. This study demonstrates that transient inhibition of SULT4A1 expression in developing zebrafish larvae results in the up-regulation of several genes involved in phototransduction. SULT4A1 KD was verified by immunoblot analysis and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Gene regulation changes identified by deep RNA sequencing were validated by qPCR. This study is the first identification of a cellular process whose regulation appears to be associated with SULT4A1 expression.