Lack of de novo phosphatidylinositol synthesis leads to endoplasmic reticulum stress and hepatic steatosis in cdipt-deficient zebrafish

cdipt is an essential gene in the synthesis of phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) in the zebrafish, Danio rerio. The zebrafish mutant cdipt^hi559Tg (ZL782) carries a retroviral insertion which inactivates cdipt. Homozygous mutants exhibit hepatocellular endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) pathologies at 5 days post fertilization (dpf). This study reveals a novel link between PtdIns, ER stress, and steatosis. We compared whole animal gene expression profiles of hi559 mutant larvae with phenotypically wild type larvae from a heterozygote incross in triplicate.