Disease relevance of kita

• This hyperpigmentation is dependent on kita function [1].

High impact information on kita

• We also find that, in contrast to mouse, the zebrafish c-kit gene that we have identified is not essential for hematopoiesis or primordial germ cell development [2].
• Expression of c-kit, which encodes the receptor for the Steel ligand, is reduced in these embryos, and, similar to zebrafish c-kit mutant embryos, embryonic melanophores are reduced in number and migration [3].
• We show that in embryos, kitb is expressed in a non-overlapping pattern to that of kita, in the anterior ventral mesoderm, Rohon-beardRohon-Beard neurons, the otic vesicle, and trigeminal ganglia [4].

Biological context of kita

• In addition, zebrafish kita is expressed in a site of zebrafish primitive hematopoiesis but not required for blood development, and we fail to detect kitb expression in sites of zebrafish hematopoiesis [4].
• The effects of ap-2alpha MO injected into heterozygous and homozygous c-kit mutants support the notion that Ap-2alpha works through C-kit and additional target genes to mediate melanophore cell number and migration [3].

References