PUBLICATION

In vivo long-term continuous observation of gene expression in zebrafish embryo nerve systems by using harmonic generation microscopy and morphant technology

Authors
Hsieh, C.S., Ko, C.Y., Chen, S.Y., Liu, T.M., Wu, J.S., Hu, C.H., and Sun, C.K.
ID
ZDB-PUB-090112-1
Date
2008
Source
Journal of Biomedical Optics   13(6): 064041 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Hu, Chin-Hwa
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified/metabolism*
  • Biotechnology/methods
  • Brain/embryology*
  • Brain/metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Profiling/methods*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/physiology
  • Microscopy, Confocal/methods*
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence/methods*
  • Zebrafish/embryology
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
  • Zebrafish/metabolism*
PubMed
19123687 Full text @ J. Biomed. Opt.
Abstract
Gene expression plays an important role in embryo development and organ function. Previous studies have shown that harmonic generation microscopy (HGM) can be used as a fluorescence signal-independent, minimally invasive method with a subcellular 3-D resolution and a penetration depth in the order of millimeters for long-term continuous imaging of vertebrate embryos. We show that it is ideal to combine in vivo HGM with the morphant technology for minimally invasive, long-term continuous observation of gene expression in the nervous system of vertebrate embryos. Since second- and third-harmonic generations (SHG, THG) are virtual-state-transition-based systems that depend only on the structure of the organisms, they are not temporally limited by the expression of the fluorescence proteins. We successfully identified the expression of the zarnt2a and the hif-1alpha, 2alpha, and 3alpha genes in the nervous system of zebrafish embryos with specific knockdown genes by microscopically observing the embryos from the early stages of embryogenesis. The results from a combination of the two different modalities, i.e., SHG microscopy and THG microscopy, successfully revealed the weak cell adhesion, cell apoptosis, nerve formation reduction, and neural tube distortion in the morphant zebrafish embryos.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Show all Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping