Name: retro-orbital injection in adult zebrafish
Uploaded: 2009-12-07T18:43:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Retro-orbital Injection in Adult Zebrafish at JoVE.com

This work is supported by Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a grant from the NIH for the study of embryonic hematopoiesis.

Part 1. Preparation of injection material
<ol>
 <li>Tg(globin:GFP) cells:</li>
 <li>Bleed adult donor fish using 10ul pipette tip coated in heparin (1unit/ul) to puncture fish behind gill. </li>
 <li>Aspirate red blood cells and dispense in cell buffer (0.9X PBS + 5% FBS + 1% Pen/Strep). </li>
 <li>Filter cell suspension over 40uM mesh and determine concentration of cells using hemocytometer as previously described by LeBlanc et al. </li>
 <li>Spin down and resuspend in cell buffer at desi...

<ol>
	<li>Steel, C. D., Stephens, A. L., Hahto, S. M., Singletary, S. J., Ciavarra, R. P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Comparison+of+the+lateral+tail+vein+and+the+retro-orbital+venous+sinus+as+route+of+intravenous+drug+delivery+in+a+transgenic+mouse+model.">Comparison of the lateral tail vein and the retro-orbital venous sinus as route of intravenous drug delivery in a transgenic mouse model.</a> Lab Animal. 37, 26-32 (2008).</li><li>Pinkerton, W., Webber, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+method+of+injecting+small+laboratory+animals+by+the+ophthalmic+plexus+route.">A method of injecting small laboratory animals by the ophthalmic plexus route.</a> Proc. Soc. Exp. Bio. Med. 116, 959-961 (1964).</li><li>White, R. M., Sessa, A. S., Burke, C., Bowman, T., LeBlanc, J., Ceol, C., Bourque, C., Dovey, M., Goessling, W., Burns, C. E., Zon, L. I. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Transparent+adult+zebrafish+as+a+tool+for+in+vivo+transplantation+analysis.">Transparent adult zebrafish as a tool for in vivo transplantation analysis.</a> Cell Stem Cell. 2, 183-189 (2008).</li><li>LeBlanc, J., Bowman, T. V., Zon, L. I. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Transplantation+of+whole+kidney+marrow+in+adult+zebrafish.">Transplantation of whole kidney marrow in adult zebrafish.</a> J. Vis. Exp. , (2007).</li></ol>

Retro-orbital injection in adult zebrafish gives the highest efficiency of delivery of injected material to the bloodstream with the lowest incidence of mortality. Because of the nature of the injection spot, the puncture appears to heal quickly, decreasing the occurrence of infection and amount of blood loss. The site may even be repeatedly injected during a short time for daily injections of drugs, for example.
Large quantities of drugs must be purchased for traditional treatment methods in...

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		<table border="1">
		<thead>
		<tr>
		<th>Material Name</th>
		<th>Type</th>
		<th>Company</th>
		<th>Catalogue Number</th>
		<th>Comment</th>
		</tr>
		</thead>
		<tbody>
		
<tr>
<td>Heparin sodium salt from porcine intestinal mucosa</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
<td>2106</td>
<td>Preweighed vial of 300 USP units</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tricaine-S</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Western Chemical</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>MS-222</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dulbecco&#x2019;s Phosphate Buffered Saline</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Invitrogen</td>
<td>14190-144</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Dextran, Texas Red&reg;</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Molecular Probes Inc.</td>
<td>D1830</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>E3</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>5mM NaCl 
0.17 mM Kcl 
0.33 mM CaCl2 
0.33 mM MgSO2
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Microliter Syringe</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Hamilton</td>
<td>80300</td>
<td>701N 10uL SYR (26s/2&#x201D;/2)</td>
</tr>		</tbody>
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retro-orbital injection in adult zebrafish

Drug treatment of whole animals is an essential tool in any model system for pharmacological and chemical genetic studies. Intravenous (IV) injection is often the most effective and noninvasive form of delivery of an agent of interest. In the zebrafish (Danio rerio), IV injection of drugs has long been a challenge because of the small vessel diameter. This has also proved a significant hurdle for the injection of cells during hematopoeitic stem cell transplantation. Historically, injections into the bloodstream were done directly through the heart. However, this intra-cardiac procedure has a very high mortality rate as the heart is often punctured during injection leaving the fish prone to infection, massive blood loss or fatal organ damage. Drawing on our experience with the mouse, we have developed a new injection procedure in the zebrafish in which the injection site is behind the eye and into the retro-orbital venous sinus. This retro-orbital (RO) injection technique has been successfully employed in both the injection of drugs in the adult fish as well as transplantation of whole kidney marrow cells. RO injection has a much lower mortality rate than traditional intra-cardiac injection. Fish that are injected retro-orbitally tend to bleed less following injection and are at a much lower risk of injury to a major organ like the heart. Further, when performed properly, injected cells and/or drugs quickly enter the bloodstream allowing compounds to exert their effect on the whole fish and kidney cells to easily home to their niche. Thus, this new injection technique minimizes mortality while allowing efficient delivery of material into the bloodstream of adult fish. Here we exemplify this technique by retro-orbital injection of Tg(globin:GFP) cells into adult casper fish as well as injection of a red fluorescent dye (dextran, Texas Red ) into adult casper fish. We then visualize successful injections by whole animal fluorescence microscopy.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Retro-orbital Injection in Adult Zebrafish at JoVE.com

Retro-orbital Injection in Adult Zebrafish

Here we show how to do retro-orbital injection in adult zebrafish.

Drug treatment of whole animals is an essential tool in any model system for pharmacological and chemical genetic studies. Intravenous (IV) injection is ...

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