PUBLICATION

An alpha-smooth muscle actin (acta2/alphasma) zebrafish transgenic line marking vascular mural cells and visceral smooth muscle cells

Authors
Whitesell, T.R., Kennedy, R.M., Carter, A.D., Rollins, E.L., Georgijevic, S., Santoro, M.M., Childs, S.J.
ID
ZDB-PUB-140513-416
Date
2014
Source
PLoS One   9: e90590 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Childs, Sarah J., Georgijevic, Sonja, Rollins, Evvi-Lynn, Santoro, Massimo
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Actins/genetics*
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified/genetics*
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Humans
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Luminescent Proteins
  • Microscopy, Confocal
  • Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/embryology*
  • Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/metabolism
  • Myocytes, Smooth Muscle/metabolism*
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
  • Zebrafish/genetics
PubMed
24594685 Full text @ PLoS One
Abstract

Mural cells of the vascular system include vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and pericytes whose role is to stabilize and/or provide contractility to blood vessels. One of the earliest markers of mural cell development in vertebrates is α smooth muscle actin (acta2; αsma), which is expressed by pericytes and SMCs. In vivo models of vascular mural cell development in zebrafish are currently lacking, therefore we developed two transgenic zebrafish lines driving expression of GFP or mCherry in acta2-expressing cells. These transgenic fish were used to trace the live development of mural cells in embryonic and larval transgenic zebrafish. acta2:EGFP transgenic animals show expression that largely mirrors native acta2 expression, with early pan-muscle expression starting at 24 hpf in the heart muscle, followed by skeletal and visceral muscle. At 3.5 dpf, expression in the bulbus arteriosus and ventral aorta marks the first expression in vascular smooth muscle. Over the next 10 days of development, the number of acta2:EGFP positive cells and the number of types of blood vessels associated with mural cells increases. Interestingly, the mural cells are not motile and remain in the same position once they express the acta2:EGFP transgene. Taken together, our data suggests that zebrafish mural cells develop relatively late, and have little mobility once they associate with vessels.

Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping