PUBLICATION

Delivering Traumatic Brain Injury to Larval Zebrafish

Authors
Gill, T., Locskai, L.F., Burton, A.H., Alyenbaawi, H., Wheeler, T., Burton, E.A., Allison, W.T.
ID
ZDB-PUB-230906-51
Date
2024
Source
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)   2707: 3223-22 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Allison, Ted, Burton, Edward A.
Keywords
Animal model, Blast injury, Closed head injury, Concussion, Neurotrauma, Pressure transducer
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Blast Injuries*
  • Brain Injuries*
  • Brain Injuries, Traumatic*
  • Humans
  • Larva
  • Zebrafish/genetics
PubMed
37668902 Full text @ Meth. Mol. Biol.
Abstract
We describe a straightforward, scalable method for administering traumatic brain injury (TBI) to zebrafish larvae. The pathological outcomes appear generalizable for all TBI types, but perhaps most closely model closed-skull, diffuse lesion (blast injury) neurotrauma. The injury is delivered by dropping a weight onto the plunger of a fluid-filled syringe containing zebrafish larvae. This model is easy to implement, cost-effective, and provides a high-throughput system that induces brain injury in many larvae at once. Unique to vertebrate TBI models, this method can be used to deliver TBI without anesthetic or other metabolic agents. The methods simulate the main aspects of traumatic brain injury in humans, providing a preclinical model to study the consequences of this prevalent injury type and a way to explore early interventions that may ameliorate subsequent neurodegeneration. We also describe a convenient method for executing pressure measurements to calibrate and validate this method. When used in concert with the genetic tools readily available in zebrafish, this model of traumatic brain injury offers opportunities to examine many mechanisms and outcomes induced by traumatic brain injury. For example, genetically encoded fluorescent reporters have been implemented with this system to measure protein misfolding and neural activity via optogenetics.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping