Automated Ablation of Hair Cells in Zebrafish Neuromasts

(A) Max projection of a single neuromast in a 3 dpf D. rerio larva expressing cldnb::H2B::mCherry (magenta) and myo6b::β-actin::GFP (green). Inset shows expanded view of the GFP-labeled hair cell stereocilia. wt, wild-type. Scale bar represents 10 μm.

(B) Time series of polarity establishment in wild-type hair cell visualized by β-actin::GFP. Red dot indicates no evident polarity, red arrow indicates polarity. Scale bar represents 0.5 μm.

(C) Distribution of hair cell polarity in wild-type neuromasts (N = 26).

(D) Example sequence from the automated ablation of a hair cell (white arrow) and the subsequent maturation of the surviving sister (dashed ovals). Scale bar represents 10 μm.

(E) Distribution of hair cell polarity in mock-ablated neuromasts, where a neighboring mature hair cell was ablated instead of one of the two newly born hair cells (N = 24).

(F) Distribution of polarity in hair cells whose siblings were ablated soon after birth (N = 9).

(G) Time series of early polarization in a hair cell whose sibling was ablated soon after birth. Annotations as in (B). Scale bar represents 0.5 μm.