Name: non-invasive imaging of disseminated candidiasis in zebrafish larvae
Uploaded: 2012-07-30T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Non-invasive Imaging of Disseminated Candidiasis in Zebrafish Larvae at JoVE.com

The authors would like to thank the laboratory of Dr. Carol Kim for microinjection training, Clarissa Henry for advice on speeding up embryo development and use of equipment, and Nathan Lawson for contributing fli1:EGFP fish. We thank members of the Wheeler lab and Shawn Walls for critical reading of the manuscript. We would also like to thank Mark Nilan for fish care and advice, and Ryan Phennicie and Kristin Gabor for technical advice on this project. This work was funded by a MAFES research assistantship to K. Brothers, a MAFES Hatch grant E08913-08, and a NIH NCRR award P20RR016463 to R. Wheeler.

All zebrafish care protocols and experiments were performed under Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocol A2009-11-01.
1. Morpholino and Larval Injection Dishes
Experimental duration: * (10-15 minutes)
Degree of difficulty: *
<ol>
	<li>For egg injections, prepare a 2% agarose solution in sterile water and microwave. When the solution has cooled pour some of it into an extra deep Pet...

The zebrafish microinjection method presented here differs from Gutzman et al.34 in that here we demonstrate injection through the otic vesicle into the hindbrain ventricle of 36 to 48 hpf larvae. The method we describe allows for consistent injection of 10-15 yeast into the hindbrain ventricle with reduced tissue damage. This protocol produces an initially local infection that spreads throughout the body by 24 hpi (Figure 1) and results in significant lethality/morbidity5</su...

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non-invasive imaging of disseminated candidiasis in zebrafish larvae

Disseminated candidiasis caused by the pathogen Candida albicans is a clinically important problem in hospitalized individuals and is associated with a 30 to 40% attributable mortality6. Systemic candidiasis is normally controlled by innate immunity, and individuals with genetic defects in innate immune cell components such as phagocyte NADPH oxidase are more susceptible to candidemia7-9. Very little is known about the dynamics of C. albicans interaction with innate immune cells in vivo. Extensive in vitro studies have established that outside of the host C. albicans germinates inside of macrophages, and is quickly destroyed by neutrophils10-14. In vitro studies, though useful, cannot recapitulate the complex in vivo environment, which includes time-dependent dynamics of cytokine levels, extracellular matrix attachments, and intercellular contacts10, 15-18. To probe the contribution of these factors in host-pathogen interaction, it is critical to find a model organism to visualize these aspects of infection non-invasively in a live intact host. 
The zebrafish larva offers a unique and versatile vertebrate host for the study of infection. For the first 30 days of development zebrafish larvae have only innate immune defenses2, 19-21, simplifying the study of diseases such as disseminated candidiasis that are highly dependent on innate immunity. The small size and transparency of zebrafish larvae enable imaging of infection dynamics at the cellular level for both host and pathogen. Transgenic larvae with fluorescing innate immune cells can be used to identify specific cells types involved in infection22-24. Modified anti-sense oligonucleotides (Morpholinos) can be used to knock down various immune components such as phagocyte NADPH oxidase and study the changes in response to fungal infection5. In addition to the ethical and practical advantages of using a small lower vertebrate, the zebrafish larvae offers the unique possibility to image the pitched battle between pathogen and host both intravitally and in color. 
The zebrafish has been used to model infection for a number of human pathogenic bacteria, and has been instrumental in major advances in our understanding of mycobacterial infection3, 25. However, only recently have much larger pathogens such as fungi been used to infect larva5, 23, 26, and to date there has not been a detailed visual description of the infection methodology. Here we present our techniques for hindbrain ventricle microinjection of prim25 zebrafish, including our modifications to previous protocols. Our findings using the larval zebrafish model for fungal infection diverge from in vitro studies and reinforce the need to examine the host-pathogen interaction in the complex environment of the host rather than the simplified system of the Petri dish5.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Non-invasive Imaging of Disseminated Candidiasis in Zebrafish Larvae at JoVE.com

Non-invasive Imaging of Disseminated Candidiasis in Zebrafish Larvae

The rapid development, small size and transparency of zebrafish are tremendous advantages for the study of innate immune control of infection1-4. Here we demonstrate techniques for infecting zebrafish larvae using the fungal pathogen Candida albicans by microinjection, methodology recently used to implicate phagocyte NADPH oxidase activity in control of fungal dimorphism5.

Disseminated candidiasis caused by the pathogen Candida albicans is a clinically important problem in hospitalized individuals and is associated with a 30 ...

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