斑马鱼:在生命科学中畅游

模式动物是生命科学研究的重要材料,为生命科学的发展做出了重要的贡献。自20世纪90年代初以来,斑马鱼因其多方面的优点已成为模式动物家族中重要的一员,受到越来越多的重视和利用。目前,斑马鱼被广泛地用于发育生物学、遗传学、肿瘤学、药物学、毒理与环保等方面的研究,不断涌现新的研究成果。     

Cloning and characterization of a 70 kd heat shock cognate (hsc70) gene from the zebrafish (Danio rerio)

The heat shock 70 family of proteins is one of the most highly conserved among all species. The genes encoding these proteins have been cloned and sequenced from bacterial species to humans with a high degree of homology preserved throughout evolution. Here we describe the cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a 70 kd heat shock cognate (hsc70) gene from the zebrafish (Danio rerio). A high degree of conservation is observed among hsc70 genes of other species as shown by phylogenetic analysis. The characterization of a hsc70 gene in the zebrafish provides a marker for studying the role of a constitutively expressed member of the hsp70 family in an important developmental and evolutionary model system.     

斑马鱼基因工程的研究进展

对国内外斑马鱼基因工程研究进展。包括最近获得的大批转基因斑马鱼品系、靶向筛选的转基因斑马鱼、斑马鱼转基因技术的发展和斑马鱼基因工程的热点问题与应用前景进行了综述。指出我国已建立日趋成熟的斑马鱼转基因技术、细胞核移植技术和染色体组操作技术,具有斑马鱼细胞遗传学和胚胎学基础,我国有望在不久的将来获得定向整合的基因工程斑马鱼,并推动生物技术应用研究领域的进步和发展。     

Baculovirus-Mediated Gene Expression in Zebrafish

Abstract In an effort to misexpress genes in zebrafish, we tested the ability of baculovirus to infect and drive gene expression in embryos. By injecting virus into specific tissues and using appropriate promoters, both the location and time of gene expression could be controlled. Using a virus with 2 different promoters, LacZ and GFP could be expressed independently. The efficiency of expression appears to depend on the promoter used. As a test of this system, baculovirus was used to ectopically express ephrinB2a in the presomitic mesoderm. EphrinB2a is normally expressed in the posterior region of developing somites, and baculovirus-mediated misexpression caused abnormal somite boundary formation. Baculovirus can thus be used as a tool for gene misexpression experiments in the zebrafish, especially when localized misexpression is required late in development.     

白消安在斑马鱼早期胚胎和幼鱼发育过程中的毒理和致畸作用

白消安(1,4-二甲磺酸丁酯)是目前在治疗慢性嗜中性粒细胞白血病和骨髓移植中使用最广泛的一种摄生体,因为它在临床上的重要作用,其胚胎毒性长期以来一直是医生们关注的焦点。本研究的目的是评估白消安在斑马鱼胚胎和幼鱼早期发育过程中的毒理作用,包括胚胎毒性和致畸效应。研究首先确定了白消安对斑马鱼胚胎和幼鱼的半致死浓度(LD50),在白消安/DMSO溶液中孵育24h的胚胎其LD50值为43.42μg·mL^-1, 幼鱼的LD50则为237.33μg·mL^-1;其次对白消安处理导致的形态学缺陷也进行了研究,主要包括钩形尾、无尾、脊椎弯曲、脊索波浪状扭曲、单胸鳍、围心包水肿、卵黄囊吸收延迟以及短体长;第三,利用阿利辛蓝(Alcian Blue)染色研究了颌骨和脊椎骨的异常发育,白消安处理过的幼鱼的麦克尔氏软骨(Meckel's cartilage)间的距离显著短于未处理过的阴性对照组,而处理组的幼鱼在脊椎骨的分化程度上也明显低于对照组;另外,为了研究白消安对斑马鱼生殖系统的影响,使用生殖细胞特异性的nanos1 cRNA探针标定斑马鱼原始生殖细胞,研究处理前后原始生殖细胞的增殖和迁移状况,发现暴露在40μg·mL^-1的白消安/DMSO溶液中12h,不仅能够抑制原始细胞的增殖而且明显干扰了这些细胞的定向迁移。这种对细胞的迁移作用之前从未见诸报道,其机制需要进一步地深入研究。     

斑马鱼行为学实验在神经科学中的应用

斑马鱼作为新型模式动物的优势正在逐渐被人们所认识,其应用的领域也越来越宽广．斑马鱼在神经生物学中的应用,除了在发育方面比其他模式动物更具优势外,在行为学方面的应用也更加丰富．由于斑马鱼幼体在受精后前两天通体透明,眼睛大小占到大脑体积的二分之一以上,成鱼昼夜节律明显,对光反应强烈,因此斑马鱼在视觉领域应用的优势十分明显．斑马鱼的嗅觉、听觉器官都在体表可见,可以很容易地用行为学实验手段对嗅觉和听觉功能进行检测．斑马鱼习性好动,利用斑马鱼进行运动方面的行为学观察也非常便利．斑马鱼具有群聚习性,在社会生物学研究方面正得到越来越多的关注．斑马鱼行为学是一种比较简单而又有效地分析神经整合功能的方法,并形成了许多相关的实验模型．     

RNA-Seq analysis in mutant zebrafish reveals role of U1C protein in alternative splicing regulation

Precise 5' splice-site recognition is essential for both constitutive and regulated pre-mRNA splicing. The U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP)-specific protein U1C is involved in this first step of spliceosome assembly and important for stabilizing early splicing complexes. We used an embryonically lethal U1C mutant zebrafish, hi1371, to investigate the potential genomewide role of U1C for splicing regulation. U1C mutant embryos contain overall stable, but U1C-deficient U1 snRNPs. Surprisingly, genomewide RNA-Seq analysis of mutant versus wild-type embryos revealed a large set of specific target genes that changed their alternative splicing patterns in the absence of U1C. Injection of ZfU1C cRNA into mutant embryos and in vivo splicing experiments in HeLa cells after siRNA-mediated U1C knockdown confirmed the U1C dependency and specificity, as well as the functional conservation of the effects observed. In addition, sequence motif analysis of the U1C-dependent 5' splice sites uncovered an association with downstream intronic U-rich elements. In sum, our findings provide evidence for a new role of a general snRNP protein, U1C, as a mediator of alternative splicing regulation.     

台湾地区斑马鱼研究现况

台湾地区斑马鱼研究起始于1996年,在经历了约8年的萌芽期(1996~2003年)之后,目前已进入到茁壮期(2004~现今),现今全台湾共有83个实验室使用斑马鱼作为实验材料,台湾地区斑马鱼研究社群的研究主题可大致分成3大类:(1)胚胎发育;(2)人类疾病;(3)生物技术。累积至今与斑马鱼相关论文发表总数已达到342篇。自2010年起,台湾也成立了两个斑马鱼种质资源库(TZCAS与ZeTH)。在种质资源库的充分协助下,目前许多医院的临床医师、工程与生物信息相关领域的研究人员,也开始加入斑马鱼研究社群进行跨领域的整合性研究,成为现今台湾地区斑马鱼研究的一大特色。     

MicroRNAs对斑马鱼发育的调控

microRNAs(miRNAs)是一类长度约为22nt的非编码小RNA,从单细胞到多细胞真核生物中都广泛存在,在进化过程中高度保守,对动物发育、生理功能及病理过程都具有重要调控作用。斑马鱼(Danio rerio)是现代生物学研究中广泛使用的模式动物,以斑马鱼为模型研究miRNAs可以揭示miRNAs在脊椎动物中的功能。文章就miRNAs整体缺失对斑马鱼胚胎发育的影响及一些miRNAs在斑马鱼早期发育过程中的调控机制进行了综述,从而为探索miRNAs在脊椎动物中的功能及鱼类的生产育种提供理论基础。     

Scube2 mediates Hedgehog signalling in the zebrafish embryo

The Hedgehog family of secreted morphogens specifies the fate of a large number of different cell types within invertebrate and vertebrate embryos, including the muscle cell precursors of the embryonic myotome of zebrafish. Formation of Hedgehog-sensitive muscle fates is disrupted within homozygous zebrafish mutants of the "you"-type class, the majority of which disrupt components of the Hedgehog (HH) signal transduction pathway. We have undertaken a phenotypic and molecular characterisation of one of these mutants, you, which we show results from mutations within the zebrafish orthologue of the mammalian gene scube2. This gene encodes a member of the Scube family of proteins, which is characterised by several protein motifs including EGF and CUB domains. Epistatic and molecular analyses position Scube2 function upstream of Smoothened (Smoh), the signalling component of the HH receptor complex, suggesting that Scube2 may act during HH signal transduction prior to, or during, receipt of the HH signal at the plasma membrane. In support of this model we show that scube2 has homology to cubilin, which encodes an endocytic receptor involved in protein trafficking suggesting a possible mode of function for Scube2 during HH signal transduction.     

以斑马鱼为模式动物研究器官的发育与再生

斑马鱼因其受精卵体外发育、胚胎透明、具有较强的再生能力以及适于大规模遗传筛选的优势, 成为研究脊椎动物器官发育与再生的新兴模式动物。通过数十年的探索, 科研工作者已经在斑马鱼中建立了一套成熟的研究方法, 并对斑马鱼胚胎发育早期的细胞命运决定和分化、组织器官的形态建成以及受损后的再生过程有了初步的认识。近年来, 随着遗传筛选技术的大规模开展和活体成像技术在斑马鱼中的深入应用, 许多在小鼠等模式动物中悬而未决的问题开始得到充分解答。随着研究的不断深化和技术的不断更新, 以斑马鱼为模式动物, 对脊椎动物器官发育与再生的研究将会更加深入, 相关的调控机制也会被逐步探明, 从而为临床相关疾病的防治提供富有价值的参考。文章通过对近年来发表的文章进行回顾, 总结了斑马鱼作为模式动物研究中枢神经系统、肝脏和胰腺、血液细胞和血管等重要器官早期发育过程及其调控机制的进展, 并阐述了以斑马鱼研究尾鳍、心脏、肝脏等器官再生的优势和初步发现。