Abstract
BCL6, a protooncogene, is most commonly involved in diffuse large cell lymphomas (DLCL) which is the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. BCL6 recruits a number of transcriptional corepressors including BCL6 corepressor (BCoR) to function as a transcriptional repressor. BCoR mutation causes two X-linked allelic disorders termed as Oculofaciocardiodental (OFCD) and Lenz microphthalmia syndrome, which are characterized by ocular, dental, cardiac and skeletal anomalies. The involvement of BCL6 in the development of the eye has not been reported so far. Here, we report that BCL6 is essential for eye development in Xenopus embryo prior to the neurula stage. We found BCL6 function is required for eye development prior to stage 11 and loss-of-function studies of BCL6 showed a reduction in expression of Rx, Pax6 and Otx2, which play vital roles at the early stage of eye development, in the anterior neural plate. These findings suggest that BCL6 regulates the expression of major eye field transcriptional factors (EFTFs) and controls eye development during the early stages of Xenopus development.
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