oral-intubation-adult-zebrafish-model-for-evaluating-intestinal

Oral Intubation of Adult Zebrafish: A Model for Evaluating Intestinal Uptake of Bioactive Compounds

Most pathogens invade organisms through their mucosa. This is particularly true in fish as they are continuously exposed to a microbial-rich water ...

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Fish disease treatments have progressed significantly over the last few years and have moved from the massive use of antibiotics to the development of vaccines mainly based on inactivated bacteria. Today, the incorporation of immunostimulants and antigens into nanomaterials provide us with new tools to enhance the performance of immunostimulation. Nanoparticles are dispersions or solid particles designed with specific physical properties (size, surface charge, or loading capacity), which allow controlled delivery and therefore improved targeting and stimulation of the immune system. The use of these nanodelivery platforms in fish is in the initial steps of development. Here we review the advances in the application of nanoparticles to fish disease prevention including: the type of biomaterial, the type of immunostimulant or vaccine loaded into the nanoparticles, and how they target the fish immune system. 

Nanodelivery Systems as New Tools for Immunostimulant or Vaccine Administration: Targeting the Fish Immune System.

In the search for an eminently practical strategy to develop immunostimulants and vaccines for farmed fish, we have devised recombinant viral antigens presented as "nanopellets" (NPs). These are inclusion bodies of fish viral antigenic proteins produced in . Soluble recombinant proteins are too labile to endure the  environment and maintain full functionality, and therefore require encapsulation strategies. Yet when they are produced as nanostructures, they can withstand the wide range of gastrointestinal pH found in fish, high temperatures, and lyophilization. Moreover, these nanomaterials are biologically active, non-toxic to fish, cost-effective regarding production and suitable for oral administration. Here, we present three versions of NPs formed by antigenic proteins from relevant viruses affecting farmed fish: the viral nervous necrosis virus coat protein, infectious pancreatic necrosis virus viral protein 2, and a viral haemorrhagic septicemia virus G glycoprotein fragment. We demonstrate that the nanoparticles are taken up  by zebrafish ZFL cells and  by intubating zebrafish as a proof of concept for oral delivery. Encouragingly, analysis of gene expression suggests these NPs evoke an antiviral innate immune response in ZFL cells and in rainbow trout head kidney macrophages. They are therefore a promising platform for immunostimulants and may be candidates for vaccines should protection be demonstrated.

Jie Ji

Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (IBB-UAB),
Department of Cell Biology,
Animal Physiology and Immunology,
Department of Cell Biology, Animal Physiology and Immunology

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Oral Intubation of Adult Zebrafish: A Model for Evaluating Intestinal Uptake of Bioactive Compounds

Jie Ji

Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (IBB-UAB),Department of Cell Biology,Animal Physiology and Immunology,Department of Cell Biology, Animal Physiology and Immunology

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Oral Intubation of Adult Zebrafish: A Model for Evaluating Intestinal Uptake of Bioactive Compounds

Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (IBB-UAB),
Department of Cell Biology,
Animal Physiology and Immunology,
Department of Cell Biology, Animal Physiology and Immunology