Primary Neuron Culture for Nerve Growth and Axon Guidance Studies in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
- Authors
- Chen, Z., Lee, H., Henle, S.J., Cheever, T.R., Ekker, S.C., and Henley, J.R.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-130402-9
- Date
- 2013
- Source
- PLoS One 8(3): e57539 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Ekker, Stephen C.
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Animals, Genetically Modified
- Axons/drug effects
- Axons/ultrastructure*
- Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/pharmacology
- Calcium/metabolism*
- Calcium Signaling/drug effects
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/drug effects
- Microscopy, Fluorescence
- Motor Neurons/cytology*
- Motor Neurons/drug effects
- Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein/pharmacology
- Primary Cell Culture/methods*
- Prosencephalon/cytology
- Prosencephalon/drug effects
- Prosencephalon/growth & development
- Retina/cytology
- Retina/drug effects
- Retina/growth & development
- Rhombencephalon/cytology
- Rhombencephalon/drug effects
- Rhombencephalon/growth & development
- Spinal Cord/cytology
- Spinal Cord/drug effects
- Spinal Cord/growth & development
- Time-Lapse Imaging
- Zebrafish/anatomy & histology
- Zebrafish/genetics
- Zebrafish/growth & development*
- PubMed
- 23469201 Full text @ PLoS One
Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a widely used model organism in genetics and developmental biology research. Genetic screens have proven useful for studying embryonic development of the nervous system in vivo, but in vitro studies utilizing zebrafish have been limited. Here, we introduce a robust zebrafish primary neuron culture system for functional nerve growth and guidance assays. Distinct classes of central nervous system neurons from the spinal cord, hindbrain, forebrain, and retina from wild type zebrafish, and fluorescent motor neurons from transgenic reporter zebrafish lines, were dissociated and plated onto various biological and synthetic substrates to optimize conditions for axon outgrowth. Time-lapse microscopy revealed dynamically moving growth cones at the tips of extending axons. The mean rate of axon extension in vitro was 21.4±1.2 μm hr1 s.e.m. for spinal cord neurons, which corresponds to the typical ~0.5 mm day1 growth rate of nerves in vivo. Fluorescence labeling and confocal microscopy demonstrated that bundled microtubules project along axons to the growth cone central domain, with filamentous actin enriched in the growth cone peripheral domain. Importantly, the growth cone surface membrane expresses receptors for chemotropic factors, as detected by immunofluorescence microscopy. Live-cell functional assays of axon extension and directional guidance demonstrated mammalian brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-dependent stimulation of outgrowth and growth cone chemoattraction, whereas mammalian myelin-associated glycoprotein inhibited outgrowth. High-resolution live-cell Ca2+-imaging revealed local elevation of cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration in the growth cone induced by BDNF application. Moreover, BDNF-induced axon outgrowth, but not basal outgrowth, was blocked by treatments to suppress cytoplasmic Ca2+ signals. Thus, this primary neuron culture model system may be useful for studies of neuronal development, chemotropic axon guidance, and mechanisms underlying inhibition of neural regeneration in vitro, and complement observations made in vivo.