The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a vital role in the central nervous system (CNS). A comprehensive understanding of BBB development has been hampered by difficulties in observing the differentiation of brain endothelial cells (BECs) in real-time. Here, we generated two transgenic zebrafish line, Tg(glut1b:mCherry) and Tg(plvap:EGFP), to serve as in vivo reporters of BBB development. We showed that barriergenesis (i.e. the induction of BEC differentiation) occurs immediately as endothelial tips cells migrate into the brain parenchyma. Using the Tg(glut1b:mCherry) transgenic line, we performed a genetic screen and identified a zebrafish mutant with a nonsense mutation in gpr124, a gene known to play a role in CNS angiogenesis and BBB development. We also showed that our transgenic plvap:EGFP line, a reporter of immature brain endothelium, is initially expressed in newly formed brain endothelial cells, but subsides during BBB maturation. Our results demonstrate the ability to visualize the in vivo differentiation of brain endothelial cells into the BBB phenotype and establish that CNS angiogenesis and barriergenesis occur simultaneously.

Embryonic exposure to the environmental contaminant and aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, dioxin), disrupts cardiac development and function in fish, birds, and mammals. In zebrafish, the temporal window of sensitivity to the cardiotoxic effects of TCDD coincides with epicardium formation. We hypothesized that this TCDD-induced heart failure results from disruption of epicardial development. To determine whether embryonic TCDD exposure inhibits epicardium and proepicardium (PE) development in zebrafish, we used histology and fluorescence immunocytochemistry to examine the epicardium formation in fish exposed to TCDD. TCDD exposure prevented epicardium formation. Using live imaging and in situ hybridization, we found that TCDD exposure blocked the formation of the PE cluster. In situ hybridization experiments showed that TCDD exposure also prevented the expression of the PE marker tcf21 at the site where the PE normally forms. TCDD also inhibited expansion of the epicardial layer across the developing heart: Exposure after PE formation was completed prevented further expansion of the epicardium. However, TCDD exposure did not affect epicardial cells already present. Because TCDD blocks epicardium formation, but is not directly toxic to the epicardium once complete, we propose that inhibition of epicardium formation can account for the window of sensitivity to TCDD cardiotoxicity in developing zebrafish. Epicardium development is crucial to heart development. Loss of this layer during development may account for most if not all of the TCDD-induced cardiotoxicity in zebrafish.

Activation of the transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) prevents the formation of the epicardium and leads to severe heart malformations in developing zebrafish (Danio rerio). The downstream genes that cause heart malformation are not known. Because TCDD causes craniofacial malformations in zebrafish by downregulating the sox9b gene, we hypothesized that cardiotoxicity might also result from sox9b downregulation. We found that sox9b is expressed in the developing zebrafish heart ventricle and that TCDD exposure markedly reduces this expression. Furthermore, we found that manipulation of sox9b expression could phenocopy many but not all of the effects of TCDD at the heart. Loss of sox9b prevented the formation of epicardium progenitors comprising the proepicardium on the pericardial wall, and prevented the formation and migration of the epicardial layer around the heart. Zebrafish lacking sox9b showed pericardial edema, an elongated heart, and reduced blood circulation. Fish lacking sox9b failed to form valve cushions and leaflets. Sox9b is one of two mammalian Sox9 homologs, sox9b and sox9a. Knock down of sox9a expression did not cause cardiac malformations, or defects in epicardium development. We conclude that the decrease in sox9b expression in the heart caused by TCDD plays a role in many of the observed signs of cardiotoxicity. We find that while sox9b is expressed in myocardial cells, it is not normally expressed in the affected epicardial cells or progenitors. We therefore speculate that sox9b is involved in signals between the cardiomyocytes and the nascent epicardial cells.

BackgroundThe outermost layer of the vertebrate heart, the epicardium, forms from a cluster of progenitor cells termed the proepicardium (PE). PE cells migrate onto the myocardium to give rise to the epicardium. Impaired epicardial development has been associated with defects in valve development, cardiomyocyte proliferation and alignment, cardiac conduction system maturation and adult heart regeneration. Zebrafish are an excellent model for studying cardiac development and regeneration; however, little is known about how the zebrafish epicardium forms.ResultsWe report that PE migration occurs through multiple mechanisms and that the zebrafish epicardium is composed of a heterogeneous population of cells. Heterogeneity is first observed within the PE and persists through epicardium formation. Using in vivo imaging, histology and confocal microscopy, we show that PE cells migrate through a cellular bridge that forms between the pericardial mesothelium and the heart. We also observed the formation of PE aggregates on the pericardial surface, which were released into the pericardial cavity. It was previously reported that heartbeat-induced pericardiac fluid advections are necessary for PE cluster formation and subsequent epicardium development. We manipulated heartbeat genetically and pharmacologically and found that PE clusters clearly form in the absence of heartbeat. However, when heartbeat was inhibited the PE failed to migrate to the myocardium and the epicardium did not form. We isolated and cultured hearts with only a few epicardial progenitor cells and found a complete epicardial layer formed. However, pharmacologically inhibiting contraction in culture prevented epicardium formation. Furthermore, we isolated control and silent heart (sih) morpholino (MO) injected hearts prior to epicardium formation (60 hpf) and co-cultured these hearts with “donor” hearts that had an epicardium forming (108 hpf). Epicardial cells from donor hearts migrated on to control but not sih MO injected hearts.ConclusionsEpicardial cells stem from a heterogeneous population of progenitors, suggesting that the progenitors in the PE have distinct identities. PE cells attach to the heart via a cellular bridge and free-floating cell clusters. Pericardiac fluid advections are not necessary for the development of the PE cluster, however heartbeat is required for epicardium formation. Epicardium formation can occur in culture without normal hydrodynamic and hemodynamic forces, but not without contraction.

Exposure of zebrafish embryos to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) activates the zebrafish aryl hydrocarbon receptor 2 (AHR) to produce developmental and cardiovascular toxicity. AHR is found in the heart; however, AHR activation by TCDD is not confined to the heart and occurs throughout the organism. In order to understand the cause of cardiotoxicity, we constructed a constitutively active AHR (caAHR) based on the zebrafish AHR2 and expressed it specifically in cardiomyocytes. We show that AHR activation within the cardiomyocytes can account for the heart failure induced by TCDD. Expression of the caAHR within the heart produced cardiac malformations, loss of circulation, and pericardial edema. The heart-specific activation of AHR reproduced several other well-characterized endpoints of TCDD toxicity outside of the cardiovascular system, including defects in swim bladder and craniofacial development. This work identifies a single cellular site of TCDD action, the myocardial cell, that can account for the severe cardiovascular collapse observed following early life stage exposure to TCDD, and contributes to other forms of toxicity.