Heart Dissection: A Method to Observe Zebrafish Cardiac Development

Abstract

Source: Singleman C. et. al., Heart Dissection in Larval, Juvenile and Adult Zebrafish, Danio rerio. J. Vis. Exp. (2011).

This video describes a technique of isolating the heart from a zebrafish at multiple developmental stages to study cardiac development, maturation, and ageing.

Protocol

1. Measuring fish and dissection Place single fish into petri dish half filled with fresh PBS and lay it on its right side. Measure length of fish from snout to base of tail (the caudal peduncle), not including tail fins, using a digital mm caliper (Figure 1). This is the standard length (SL). Each fish can be assigned a number/letter combination to allow an individual fish and the resulting dissected heart to be tracked for later analysis. Data, including parental stock n…

Representative Results

Figure 1. Hold the fish with forceps between the eyes and gills. Figure 2. A cardiac specific fluorescent transgenic marker such as Tg(myl7:GFP)twu34, shown here, can aid in visualizing hearts dissected from smaller fish. <img a…

Materials

Forceps #55	Fine Science Tools	11295-51
Micro-scissors	Fine Science Tools	15005-08
Pin holder	Fine Science Tools	26016-12
Micro-needles	Fine Science Tools	10130-10
Petri dishes	BD Biosciences	351029