PUBLICATION
A fluidic platform for mobility evaluation of zebrafish with gene deficiency
- Authors
- Jia, X., Feng, Y., Ma, W., Zhao, W., Liu, Y., Jing, G., Tian, J., Yang, T., Zhang, C.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-230424-45
- Date
- 2023
- Source
- Frontiers in molecular neuroscience 16: 11149281114928 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Tian, Jing
- Keywords
- active fluidic, fluidic device, gene deficiency, mechanical vibration, zebrafish mobility
- MeSH Terms
- none
- PubMed
- 37089692 Full text @ Front. Mol. Neurosci.
Citation
Jia, X., Feng, Y., Ma, W., Zhao, W., Liu, Y., Jing, G., Tian, J., Yang, T., Zhang, C. (2023) A fluidic platform for mobility evaluation of zebrafish with gene deficiency. Frontiers in molecular neuroscience. 16:11149281114928.
Abstract
Introduction Zebrafish is a suitable animal model for molecular genetic tests and drug discovery due to its characteristics including optical transparency, genetic manipulability, genetic similarity to humans, and cost-effectiveness. Mobility of the zebrafish reflects pathological conditions leading to brain disorders, disrupted motor functions, and sensitivity to environmental challenges. However, it remains technologically challenging to quantitively assess zebrafish's mobility in a flowing environment and simultaneously monitor cellular behavior in vivo.
Methods We herein developed a facile fluidic device using mechanical vibration to controllably generate various flow patterns in a droplet housing single zebrafish, which mimics its dynamically flowing habitats.
Results We observe that in the four recirculating flow patterns, there are two equilibrium stagnation positions for zebrafish constrained in the droplet, i.e., the "source" with the outward flow and the "sink" with the inward flow. Wild-type zebrafish, whose mobility remains intact, tend to swim against the flow and fight to stay at the source point. A slight deviation from streamline leads to an increased torque pushing the zebrafish further away, whereas zebrafish with motor neuron dysfunction caused by lipin-1 deficiency are forced to stay in the "sink," where both their head and tail align with the flow direction. Deviation angle from the source point can, therefore, be used to quantify the mobility of zebrafish under flowing environmental conditions. Moreover, in a droplet of comparable size, single zebrafish can be effectively restrained for high-resolution imaging.
Conclusion Using the proposed methodology, zebrafish mobility reflecting pathological symptoms can be quantitively investigated and directly linked to cellular behavior in vivo.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping