Serpini1, which encodes neuroserpin, has been implicated in the development and normal function of the nervous system. Mutations in serpini1 cause familial encephalopathy, a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized with neuroserpin inclusion bodies. However, function of neuroserpin in the nervous system is not fully understood. In this study, we generated a novel serpini1 mutant zebrafish model to investigate the loss of function of neuroserpin. Serpini1- deficient mutation was created with the CRISPR/Cas9 technique. No severe morphological characteristics were found in serpini1- deficient zebrafish. Serpini1^−/− zebrafish larvae did not cause locomotor defects but displayed anxiety-like behavior. Extension of motoneurons axon defect was observed in serpini1^−/− zebrafish. Furthermore, RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that loss of serpini1 resulted in affected expression of neurodegeneration-related genes.

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006291X20319653