Fig. 1

Fig. 1

a Schematic representation of the technique used to silence C9orf72 in zebrafish. The transgene is designed to express four different micro-RNAs targeting C9orf72’s 3’UTR and triggering knockdown by both repressing C9orf72 translation and affecting its stability. b Images demonstrating proper eGFP expression in the crystallin of the transgenic fish, a marker used to identify carrier/knockdown larvae. Scale bar = 100 μm. c Bar graph shows the relative expression of the endogenous C9orf72 gene. mRNA was normalized to elf1α mRNA levels (N = 4, ***p < 0.0001, Student’s t test). d Immunoblotting of the zebrafish protein C9orf72 and beta-actin as control. e Bar graph shows the relative expression of the C9orf72 protein compared with actin between C9orf72 mutants and control line (N = 3; **p = 0.0034; Student’s t test). f Gross morphological analyses of wild-type control and C9orf72-LOF fish (C9-miR). g Kaplan–Meier survival plot over 17 days after fertilization (dpf) showing low survival of C9-miR compared to controls after 10 dpf (N = 3, n = 25). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. n represents the number of fish, N represents the number of experimental repeats.