Visualization of Craniofacial Development in the sox10: kaede Transgenic Zebrafish Line Using Time-lapse Confocal Microscopy
Summary
Visualization of experimental data has become a key element in presenting results to the scientific community. Generation of live time-lapse recording of growing embryos contributes to better presentation and understanding of complex developmental processes. This protocol is a step-by-step guide to cell labeling via photoconversion of kaede protein in zebrafish.
Abstract
Vertebrate palatogenesis is a highly choreographed and complex developmental process, which involves migration of cranial neural crest (CNC) cells, convergence and extension of facial prominences, and maturation of the craniofacial skeleton. To study the contribution of the cranial neural crest to specific regions of the zebrafish palate a sox10: kaede transgenic zebrafish line was generated. Sox10 provides lineage restriction of the kaede reporter protein to the neural crest, thereby making the cell labeling a more precise process than traditional dye or reporter mRNA injection. Kaede is a photo-convertible protein that turns from green to red after photo activation and makes it possible to follow cells precisely. The sox10: kaede transgenic line was used to perform lineage analysis to delineate CNC cell populations that give rise to maxillary versus mandibular elements and illustrate homology of facial prominences to amniotes. This protocol describes the steps to generate a live time-lapse video of a sox10: kaede zebrafish embryo. Development of the ethmoid plate will serve as a practical example. This protocol can be applied to making a time-lapse confocal recording of any kaede or similar photoconvertible reporter protein in transgenic zebrafish. Furthermore, it can be used to capture not only normal, but also abnormal development of craniofacial structures in the zebrafish mutants.
Introduction
Orofacial clefts represent the most prevalent craniofacial deformity, with 1/700-1,000 deliveries affected 1. Disruption of early embryological craniofacial development can lead to formation of cleft lip and palate (CL/P). While causes for syndromic cleft have been largely shown, the genetic and epigenetic bases of nonsyndromic forms of orofacial clefting still need to be uncovered 2-4. In order to understand the etiology and pathogenesis of these malformations, it is necessary to elucidate the development of craniofacial structures on a cellular basis.
In all vertebrate species cranial neural crest cells (CNCC) migrate from the dorsal neural tube to populate the pharyngeal arches, which will contribute to formation of orofacial structures. Disruption of early embryological neural crest development can lead to formation of craniofacial malformations including CL/P 5-7.
In addition to structural similarities between zebrafish and mammalian craniofacial development (CNCCs reside in homologous regions), the gene regulatory network is highly conserved. It has also been shown that CNCCs develop in the same fashion between amniote species and zebrafish 8, making the zebrafish a powerful organism for the study of developmental and genetic basis of CL/P. It has many advantages, including small size, rapid and ex-utero embryonic development, and high breeding rates. Moreover, the embryo is optically transparent, making it amenable to observation of complex developmental events under the microscope 9. It is an ideal animal model for the study of migration and differentiation of cranial neural crest cells.
Expanding on previously published work 8, 10, 11, the migratory pattern of CNCC was described in detail using the sox10: kaede transgenic model 5. Kaede is a photo- convertible protein that turns from green to red after photo activation and makes it possible to trace CNCCs precisely. During this transformation the peptide backbone is cleaved, suggesting that the conversion is stable, meaning the cells can be tracked to their final destination 12. Transgenic lines labeled with kaede under transcriptional control of sox10 showed that the amniote palate and the ethmoid plate of zebrafish are formed homologously by fusion of bilateral maxillary prominences (MXP) with the frontonasal prominence (FNP) and that the Y shaped fusion seam is analogous between species.
Among other applications, the sox10: kaede transgenic zebrafish model was used to generate videos of zebrafish embryos at different developmental stages to show formation of normal and abnormal craniofacial structures. Photoconversion of specific groups of cells makes it possible to track their development. With this method an approach to create live imaging of developing craniofacial structures in zebrafish is introduced, making it easy to visually demonstrate this complex developmental process.
This protocol is aimed at sharing the experience of generating these videos using the normal development of the ethmoid plate in sox10: kaede transgenic zebrafish as an example. This protocol can further be applied to making time-lapse videos of any structure derived from cranial neural crest cells in zebrafish.
Protocol
Representative Results
Discussion
Here a new method for visualization of craniofacial development in the zebrafish model is shown. The sox10: kaede transgenic zebrafish line has been successfully used to describe the migratory pattern of CNCC in detail is used as a model organism 5.
Previous studies have used gross landmarks such as the eye to target cells and have relied on kaede mRNA injection, photoconversion assays or caged fluorescein dextran for photoconversion 10, 11, 14, 15 .The sox:10 kaede trans…
Disclosures
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Robert Kelsh for kindly sharing the zebrafish sox10 promoter reagent.
Materials
| Name of Reagent/Material | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
| sox10: kaede transgenic zebrafish line | MGH | Available via the Liao lab | |
| Petri dishes 100×15 mm | BD Falcon | 351029 | |
| Petri dishes 35 mmx10 mm | BD Falcon | 351008 | |
| Ultrapure Low melting point (LMP) Agarose | Invitrogen | 15517022 | |
| Lab Tek 2 Chamber SlideSystem | LabTek | 154453 | |
| Microloaders 200/pk | Fisher | E5242956003 | |
| Nikon A1R Si Confocal Ti series | Nikon | No Catalog number | |
| NIS Elements Software AR3.2 64-bit | Nikon | No Catalog number |
References
- . Prevalence at Birth of Cleft Lip With or Without Cleft Palate: Data From the International Perinatal Database of Typical Oral Clefts (IPDTOC). Cleft Palate Craniofac. J. 48 (1), 66-81 (2011).
- Dixon, M. J., et al. Cleft lip and palate: understanding genetic and environmental influences. Nat. Rev. Genet. 12 (3), 167-178 (2011).
- Mangold, E., Ludwig, K. U., Nothen, M. M. Breakthroughs in the genetics of orofacial clefting. Trends Mol. Med. 17 (12), 725-733 (2011).
- Kimmel, C. B., Miller, C. T., Moens, C. B. Specification and morphogenesis of the zebrafish larval head skeleton. Dev. Biol. 233 (2), 239-257 (2001).
- Dougherty, M., et al. Embryonic Fate Map of First Pharyngeal Arch Structures in the sox10: kaede Zebrafish Transgenic Model. J. Craniofac. Surg. 23 (5), 1333-1337 (2012).
- Trainor, P. A., Krumlauf, R. Hox genes, neural crest cells and branchial arch patterning. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 13 (6), 698-705 (2001).
- Schilling, T. F., Kimmel, C. B. Segment and cell type lineage restrictions during pharyngeal arch development in the zebrafish embryo. Development. 120 (3), 483-494 (1994).
- Swartz, M. E., et al. Examination of a palatogenic gene program in zebrafish. Dev. Dyn. 240 (9), 2204-2220 (2011).
- McCollum, C. W., et al. Developmental toxicity screening in zebrafish. Birth Defects Res. C. Embryo Today. 93 (2), 67-114 (2011).
- Wada, N., et al. Hedgehog signaling is required for cranial neural crest morphogenesis and chondrogenesis at the midline in the zebrafish skull. Development. 132 (17), 3977-3988 (2005).
- Eberhart, J. K., et al. Early Hedgehog signaling from neural to oral epithelium organizes anterior craniofacial development. Development. 133 (6), 1069-1077 (2006).
- Ando, R., et al. An optical marker based on the UV-induced green-to-red photoconversion of a fluorescent protein. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 99 (20), 12651-12656 (2002).
- Kimmel, C. B., et al. Stages of embryonic development of the zebrafish. Dev. Dyn. 203 (3), 253-310 (1993).
- Kawakami, A., et al. The zebrafish-secreted matrix protein you/scube2 is implicated in long-range regulation of hedgehog signaling. Curr. Biol. 15 (5), 480-488 (2005).
- Lombardo, V. A., Sporbert, A., Abdelilah-Seyfried, S. Cell tracking using photoconvertible proteins during zebrafish development. J. Vis. Exp. (67), e4350 (2012).
