DETERMINING THE FUNCTION OF SCUBE AND ASPH IN ZEBRAFISH MYOTOME DEVELOPMENT

Hedgehog signalling plays important roles in development. To be able to function at distant tissues, Hedgehog protein must be secreted from its producing cells with the assistance of some proteins. Scube2 is one of the most well-known factors involved in Hedgehog secretion. My project investigated Scube protein family’s function in Hedgehog signalling and in development in zebrafish. My data suggests that the other Scube proteins have a minor effect on Hedgehog signalling, but they can enhance the phenotype of the scube2 mutant. Asph, an enzyme binding to Scube was also investigated. My data suggests that Asph could function in muscle development.