Figure 1

Mmp2 is expressed ubiquitously from early development and accumulates in a striated pattern within the skeletal muscle. (A) Composite confocal projections of a 72 hpf embryo stained with anti-Mmp2 exhibiting labeling throughout the embryo with notable accumulation in the skeletal muscle (scale bar = 200 µm). (B) High magnification view of a single confocal section through the trunk musculature (indicated by the inset) showing strong labeling of the myotome boundary (upper left corner), and striated staining in myofibrils (scale bar = 10 µm). (C) RNASeq data showing absolute abundance of mmp2 transcripts in embryos from fertilization to five days post-fertilization (dpf). (D) Immunoblot of whole embryo homogenates (350 µg per lane) made from 2 hpf (cleavage), 5 hpf (50% epiboly), 12 hpf (early somitogenesis), 18 hpf (late somitogenesis), 24 hpf (prim-5), 48 hpf (long pec), and 72 hpf (protruding mouth) embryos probed with anti-Mmp2. Immunoreactivity is detected in embryos after 12 h of development, with bands at the expected mobility for full-length Mmp2 (72 kD) and stronger bands at 44 and 20 kD, which combine to give the expected size for activated Mmp2 (64 kD).