Zebrafish Housing Systems: A Review of Basic Operating Principles and Considerations for Design and Functionality

Lawrence, Christian; Mason, Timothy

doi:10.1093/ilar.53.2.179

Cited by 100 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Zebrafish were housed in the Boston Children's Hospital Aquatics Facility under the animal protocol number 09-10-1534R and maintained as previously described (43) in accordance with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Genomic DNA extracted from fish was used as the PCR template with the following primer set: forward primer 5′-CTGGTTA-CATTCTGAGAGACTTTC-3′ and reverse primer 5′-AGCCAGCTGAACCAAT-TAACTCAC-3′; as described previously (44).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repression of phosphatidylinositol transfer protein α ameliorates the pathology of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Vieira

Spinazzola

Alexander

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscle wasting disease caused by X-linked inherited mutations in the DYSTROPHIN (DMD) gene. Absence of dystrophin protein from the sarcolemma causes severe muscle degeneration, fibrosis, and inflammation, ultimately leading to cardiorespiratory failure and premature death. Although there are several promising strategies under investigation to restore dystrophin protein expression, there is currently no cure for DMD, and identification of genetic modifiers as potential targets represents an alternative therapeutic strategy. In a Brazilian golden retriever muscular dystrophy (GRMD) dog colony, two related dogs demonstrated strikingly mild dystrophic phenotypes compared with those typically observed in severely affected GRMD dogs despite lacking dystrophin. Microarray analysis of these "escaper" dogs revealed reduced expression of phosphatidylinositol transfer protein-α (PITPNA) in escaper versus severely affected GRMD dogs. Based on these findings, we decided to pursue investigation of modulation of PITPNA expression on dystrophic pathology in GRMD dogs, dystrophindeficient sapje zebrafish, and human DMD myogenic cells. In GRMD dogs, decreased expression of Pitpna was associated with increased phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) expression and decreased PTEN levels. PITPNA knockdown by injection of morpholino oligonucleotides in sapje zebrafish also increased pAkt, rescued the abnormal muscle phenotype, and improved long-term sapje mutant survival. In DMD myotubes, PITPNA knockdown by lentiviral shRNA increased pAkt and increased myoblast fusion index. Overall, our findings suggest PIPTNA as a disease modifier that accords benefits to the abnormal signaling, morphology, and function of dystrophic skeletal muscle, and may be a target for DMD and related neuromuscular diseases.Duchenne muscular dystrophy | genetic modifier | phosphatidylinositol transfer protein-α | skeletal muscle D uchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive, X-linked muscle wasting disease caused by mutations in the DYSTROPHIN gene (1, 2). Absence of dystrophin protein from the muscle sarcolemma disrupts the link between the cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix, causing a multitude of pathological effects on muscle mechanics, signaling, and metabolic pathways. These consequences render myofibers susceptible to contractioninduced injury and cause severe muscle degeneration, fibrosis, and inflammation. Patients with DMD typically lose ambulation by age 12, and cardiorespiratory failure leads to premature death by the third decade of life (3). Despite advances in palliative support and ongoing efforts to restore dystrophin expression, there is no cure for DMD. Therefore, identification of potential genetic modifiers, which could be targets for disease therapy and discovery, are of significant interest.Identification of genetic modifiers that reduce the pathogenic features of DMD is an emerging gateway to new therapeutic targets. Modifiers identified include osteopontin, encoded by the SPP1 gene, which ...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repression of phosphatidylinositol transfer protein α ameliorates the pathology of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Vieira

Spinazzola

Alexander

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…[15][16][17] Zebrafish embryos within 5 days postfertilization (dpf) are maintained at a density of 50 embryos per Petri dish (90 mm) with still water culture in a 28°C incubator. Larval fish are fed with in-house cultured paramecia twice a day from 5 to 15 dpf.…”

Section: Facility Design and Overview Of Czrc Fish Facilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Zebrafish Health Conditions in the China Zebrafish Resource Center and 20 Major Chinese Zebrafish Laboratories

Liu

Pan

et al. 2016

Zebrafish

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In China, the use of zebrafish as an experimental animal in the past 15 years has widely expanded. The China Zebrafish Resource Center (CZRC), which was established in 2012, is becoming one of the major resource centers in the global zebrafish community. Large-scale use and regular exchange of zebrafish resources have put forward higher requirements on zebrafish health issues in China. This article reports the current aquatic infrastructure design, animal husbandry, and health-monitoring programs in the CZRC. Meanwhile, through a survey of 20 Chinese zebrafish laboratories, we also describe the current health status of major zebrafish facilities in China. We conclude that it is of great importance to establish a widely accepted health standard and health-monitoring strategy in the Chinese zebrafish research community. Introduction In China, zebrafish-related research started in the early 1990s, and the research community has been rapidly growing since 2000. From 2000 to 2014, the zebrafish-related research outputs have increased more than 50 times in China, while the proportion of zebrafish-related articles published by Chinese investigators in the total articles published worldwide has increased from 1.5% to 16.8%. 1,2To meet the growing needs of zebrafish strains and zebrafish technical services, the China Zebrafish Resource Center (CZRC) was established at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, in October 2012. Till late 2015, the CZRC has maintained more than 900 lines of wild-type, mutant, and transgenic zebrafish lines and a number of DNA plasmids and cell lines.In 2013, 40 Chinese zebrafish laboratories started the Zebrafish All Gene Knockout Project for chromosome 1 (ZKO Project). The project planned to knock out more than 1000 genes on zebrafish chromosome 1 using the CRISPR/Cas9 technique. As the project coordinator, the CZRC is in charge of the preservation and distribution of all the knockout lines built in the project, and this enables the CZRC to know the status of zebrafish facilities in the major Chinese zebrafish laboratories.In this article, we introduce the aquatic infrastructure design, daily management, fish husbandry, and the healthmonitoring programs in CZRC, and the current health status of 20 zebrafish facilities in China. Materials and Methods Equipments used in fish facilityThe CZRC is equipped with two water purification systems (ESEN-AW-JH), provided by the Beijing Enviromental Science company. The main fish room is equipped with six independent sets of recirculating aquatic system, in which five sets (ESEN-AW-RC12) were provided by Beijing ESEN, and one set (WCFE6/8/12, ZC-D5) was provided by Shanghai Hai Sheng Biotech company. The quarantine room is equipped with four independent flow-through systems (ESEN-AW-DU5SS), which were provided by Beijing ESEN. The nursery room is equipped with three recirculating racks, in which two racks (ESEN-AW-DU5SS) were provided by Beijing ESEN and one rack (Z-A-S5) was provided by Shanghai Hai Sheng. The food p...

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“…Different procedures are available for the maintenance of injected and wild-type embryos (Lawrence and Mason, 2012). In our lab, embryos are maintained in an E3 medium (containing methylene blue) in Petri dishes and kept in an incubator at 28°C (Kimmel et al, 1995) until 9 dpf for normal growth.…”

Section: Gene Knock-down Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zebrafish models for ectopic mineralization disorders: practical issues from morpholino design to post-injection observations

et al. 2013

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Zebrafish (ZF, Danio rerio) has emerged as an important and popular model species to study different human diseases. Key regulators of skeletal development and calcium metabolism are highly conserved between mammals and ZF. The corresponding orthologs share significant sequence similarities and an overlap in expression patterns when compared to mammals, making ZF a potential model for the study of mineralization-related disorders and soft tissue mineralization. To characterize the function of early mineralization-related genes in ZF, these genes can be knocked down by injecting morpholinos into early stage embryos. Validation of the morpholino needs to be performed and the concern of aspecific effects can be addressed by applying one or more independent techniques to knock down the gene of interest. Post-injection assessment of early mineralization defects can be done using general light microscopy, calcein staining, Alizarin red staining, Alizarin red-Alcian blue double staining, and by the use of transgenic lines. Examination of general molecular defects can be done by performing protein and gene expression analysis, and more specific processes can be explored by investigating ectopic mineralization-related mechanisms such as apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction. In this paper, we will discuss all details about the aforementioned techniques; shared knowledge will be very useful for the future investigation of ZF models for ectopic mineralization disorders and to understand the underlying pathways involved in soft tissue calcification.

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Zebrafish Housing Systems: A Review of Basic Operating Principles and Considerations for Design and Functionality

Cited by 100 publications

References 26 publications

Repression of phosphatidylinositol transfer protein α ameliorates the pathology of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Repression of phosphatidylinositol transfer protein α ameliorates the pathology of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Zebrafish Health Conditions in the China Zebrafish Resource Center and 20 Major Chinese Zebrafish Laboratories

Zebrafish models for ectopic mineralization disorders: practical issues from morpholino design to post-injection observations

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