PUBLICATION

Real Time and Repeated Measurement of Skeletal Muscle Growth in Individual Live Zebrafish Subjected to Altered Electrical Activity

Authors
Attwaters, M., Kelu, J.J., Pipalia, T.G., Hughes, S.M.
ID
ZDB-PUB-220706-2
Date
2022
Source
Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE   (184): (Journal)
Registered Authors
Hughes, Simon M.
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Larva
  • Muscle Contraction
  • Muscle Fibers, Skeletal
  • Nervous System Physiological Phenomena*
  • Zebrafish*
PubMed
35781279 Full text @ J. Vis. Exp.
Abstract
A number of methods can be used to visualize individual cells throughout the body of live embryonic, larval or juvenile zebrafish. We show that live fish with fluorescently-marked plasma membranes can be scanned in a confocal laser scanning microscope in order to determine the volume of muscle tissue and the number of muscle fibers present. Efficient approaches for the measurement of cell number and size in live animals over time are described and validated against more arduous segmentation methods. Methods are described that permit the control of muscle electrical, and thus contractile, activity. Loss of skeletal muscle contractile activity greatly reduced muscle growth. In larvae, a protocol is described that allows reintroduction of patterned electrical-evoked contractile activity. The described methods minimize the effect of inter-individual variability and will permit analysis of the effect of electrical, genetic, drug, or environmental stimuli on a variety of cellular and physiological growth parameters in the context of the living organism. Long-term follow-up of the measured effects of a defined early-life intervention on individuals can subsequently be performed.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping