Name: histological analyses of acute alcoholic liver injury in zebrafish
Uploaded: 2017-05-25T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Histological Analyses of Acute Alcoholic Liver Injury in Zebrafish at JoVE.com

The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Katy Murray at the Zebrafish International Resource Center; Dr. Stacey Huppert and Kari Huppert at CCHMC, for their helpful advice on the protocol; and CCHMC veterinary service, for the fish care. This work was supported by NIH grant R00AA020514 and a research grant from the Center for Pediatric Genomics at CCHMC (to C.Y.). It was also support in part by NIH grant P30 DK078392 (Integrative Morphology Core) of the Digestive Disease Research Core Center in Cincinnati.

AB WT adult and larval zebrafish were maintained under standard conditions21 in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (National Institutes of Health publication 86-23, revised 1985); their use was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Cincinnati Children&#39;s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC).
1. Preparation of Solutions
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	<li>Prepare egg water.
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		<li>Prepare the stock salt solut...

<ol>
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The current protocol describes a detailed procedure for acute ethanol treatment in zebrafish larvae and the subsequent histopathological analyses with H&#38;E staining. Acute ethanol treatment should be conducted at no earlier than 96 h post-fertilization, as this is the stage at which the zebrafish liver starts to express alcohol-metabolizing enzymes13. 2% ethanol is the maximal dose that larvae can tolerate13,14. The ethanol-treated larv...

Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD), which is caused by alcohol overconsumption, is a major cause of alcohol-related morbidity and mortality. In the United States, nearly half of liver disease deaths involve alcohol1, and ALD is responsible for almost 1 in 3 liver transplants2. ALD has a broad spectrum. Steatosis, which is characterized by excess lipid accumulation in hepatocytes, occurs in the early stage of heavy drinking and is reversible upon cessation of alcohol use. Under the influence of genetic and environmental factors and continuing alcohol intake, hepatic steatosis can progress to alcoholic hepatitis and, eventually, cirrhosis 3. Studies using the rodent ALD models have provided substantial insights into the disease, but they have limitations (reviewed in reference3). Oral feeding of an alcohol diet only causes steatosis in rodents4,5. Development of inflammation and fibrosis requires either a second insult6,7 or chronic intragastric infusion, which is invasive and technically challenging8,9. The teleost zebrafish also develops liver injury in response to both chronic and acute alcohol treatment10,11,12,13,14,15. In particular, the larval zebrafish represents an attractive complementary model organism in which to study acute alcoholic liver injury10,11,13,15. The zebrafish liver is functional and produces key enzymes for ethanol metabolism by 4 days post-fertilization (dpf)13,16,17.Ethanol can be directly added to the water, and exposure to 2% ethanol for 24 h is sufficient to induce hepatic steatosis and fibrogenic responses in zebrafish larvae13,15.
It has been reported that treatment with 2% ethanol for 24 h resulted in a tissue ethanol concentration of 80 mM in zebrafish larvae13. Others have shown that larvae tolerate this concentration and the liver phenotypes seen in the treated animals are specific to ethanol exposure11,13,15,18. However, because 80 mM is nearly lethal in humans19, it is important to evaluate the liver histology of the ethanol-treated zebrafish and determine the physiological relevance to humans.
The rapid external development and translucence of zebrafish larvae make it possible to characterize the action of alcohol within the liver in real-time and in fixed samples. The availability of cell type-specific fluorescent transgenic lines and the recent advances in confocal microscopy facilitate the study of how different liver cell types change their morphology and behavior in response to acute ethanol treatment11,15. However, confocal imaging of the fluorescent transgenic zebrafish cannot completely substitute for Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&#38;E) staining when studying liver histology. Marking all liver cell types at the same time using transgenic zebrafish requires the generation of individual transgenic lines, each labeling one liver cell type with a unique fluorophore. Introducing different transgenic backgrounds into the same fish requires breeding multiple generations, which is time-consuming and costly. Additional immunofluorescence staining is needed to detect extracellular matrix components. H&#38;E staining, on the other hand, simultaneously labels all liver cell types and extracellular matrix components, thus providing an overview of the liver20. Moreover, it readily reveals several histopathological features of liver diseases, such as hepatocyte death, steatosis, and fibrosis. Although H&#38;E is a routine stain in mammalian liver histology, it is not commonly used in zebrafish liver research, and the protocol is less well established.
This work describes a protocol for acute ethanol treatment in zebrafish larvae and for the follow-up histological analyses with H&#38;E staining. The H&#38;E staining protocol can be used in all studies of liver development and function. Moreover, the paraffin sections can be used for immunohistochemistry, as well as for other special stains in liver pathology, including the trichrome stain, reticulin stain, etc.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1137">
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">1.5 mL centrifuge tubes</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">E &#38; K Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">280150</td>
			<td style="width:167px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">15 mL conical tubes</td>
			<td>VWR International</td>
			<td>89039-664</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">50 mL conical tubes</td>
			<td>VWR International</td>
			<td>89039-658</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">95% ethanol</td>
			<td>Decon Labs, Inc.</td>
			<td>2801</td>
			<td>Flammable</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Acetic acid</td>
			<td>Newcomer Supply</td>
			<td>10010A</td>
			<td>Irritant</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Agarose</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Research Products International</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">9012-36-6</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Aluminum jar rack holder</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Newcomer Supply</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">5300JRK</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Bacteriological petri dishes with lid</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>351029</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Biopsy pads</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Simport</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">M476.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Charged slides</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>12-550-16</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Clear mounting media</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">8310-16</td>
			<td>Can be substituted with other clear mounting media</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Commercial sea salts</td>
			<td>Instant Ocean</td>
			<td>SS15-10</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Disposable microtome blades</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>4280L</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Dissecting microscope</td>
			<td>Leica Biosystems</td>
			<td>Leica Mz 95</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Enclosed tissue processor</td>
			<td>Leica Biosystems</td>
			<td>ASP300 S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Eosin-Phloxine stain set</td>
			<td>Newcomer Supply</td>
			<td>1082A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Ethyl alcohol</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">E7023</td>
			<td>Flammable</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Formaldehyde solution, ACS reagent, 37 WT. % in H20, contains 10-15% methanol as stabilizer (to prevent polymerization)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>252549</td>
			<td>A suspected carcinogen; irritant</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Formalin, Buffered, 10%</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SF100-4</td>
			<td>A suspected carcinogen; irritant</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Graduated media bottle</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">VWR International</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">16159-520</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Harris hematoxylin</td>
			<td>Poly Scientific R&#38;D Corp.</td>
			<td>s212</td>
			<td>Irritant</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Histology molds</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Sakura Finetek USA Inc</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">4557</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Hot plate/Stirrer</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">VWR International</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">47751-148</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Hydrochloric acid</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>A144</td>
			<td>Irritant</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Incubator</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">VWR International</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">97058-220</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Insulin syringes</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">BD Medical</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">BD-309301</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:645px;">Inverted compound microscope</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Carl Zeiss Microscopy</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">491912-9850-000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Isopropanol</td>
			<td>Newcomer Supply</td>
			<td>12094E</td>
			<td>Flammable</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Methylene blue</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M9140</td>
			<td>Irritant</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Microtome</td>
			<td>Leica Biosystems</td>
			<td colspan="2">Leica Jung BioCut 2035&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Nutating mixer</td>
			<td>VWR International</td>
			<td>82007-202</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Paraformaldehyde</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">P6148-1KG</td>
			<td>A suspected carcinogen; irritant</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Pasteur pipet</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">VWR International</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">53283-916</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Pipette pump (10 mL)</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">VWR International</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">53502-233</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Potassium chloride (KCl)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P9541</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Potassium phosphate, monobasic (KH2PO4)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P9791</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Razor blades</td>
			<td>Grainger</td>
			<td>4A807</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Slide Staining Kit</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Newcomer Supply</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">5300KIT</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Sodium chloride (NaCl)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S3014</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)</td>
			<td>Fisher BioReagents</td>
			<td>S318-500</td>
			<td>Very hazardous</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Sodium phosphate, dibasic (Na2HPO4)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S3264</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Stainless steel strainer (5 inch diameter)</td>
			<td>Adaptive Science Tools</td>
			<td>L0906045in</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Tissue cassettes</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Simport</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">M505.12</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Tissue embedding center</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Sakura Finetek USA Inc</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">#5100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Tissue wipers, 1-Ply</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>06666A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Transfer pipets</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">137117M</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Tricaine powder/Ethyl 3-aminobenzoate methanesulfonate salt</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A5040</td>
			<td>Irritant</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Tris base, primary standard and buffer</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T1503</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Wash bottle, low-density polyethylene, wide mouth</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Nalge Nunc International</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">2402-0750</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:645px;">Xylenes</td>
			<td style="width:207px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">X3S-4</td>
			<td>Irritant</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

histological analyses of acute alcoholic liver injury in zebrafish

Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD) refers to damage to the liver due to acute or chronic alcohol abuse. It is among the leading causes of alcohol-related morbidity and mortality and affects more than 2 million people in the United States. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying alcohol-induced liver injury is crucial for developing effective treatment for ALD. Zebrafish larvae exhibit hepatic steatosis and fibrogenesis after just 24 h of exposure to 2% ethanol, making them useful for the study of acute alcoholic liver injury. This work describes the procedure for acute ethanol treatment in zebrafish larvae and shows that it causes steatosis and swelling of the hepatic blood vessels. A detailed protocol for Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&#38;E) staining that is optimized for the histological analysis of the zebrafish larval liver, is also described. H&#38;E staining has several unique advantages over immunofluorescence, as it marks all liver cells and extracellular components simultaneously and can readily detect hepatic injury, such as steatosis and fibrosis. Given the increasing usage of zebrafish in modeling toxin and virus-induced liver injury, as well as inherited liver diseases, this protocol serves as a reference for the histological analyses performed in all these studies.

10% buffered formalin and 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) are two of the most common fixatives used for histology practices. However, they do not give optimal fixation results for zebrafish liver tissue (Figure 1 and Table 1). Fixation with 10% formalin or 4% PFA often results in shrinkages, creating large gaps between the liver and surrounding tissues (Figure 1A,&#160;B; Figure 1B...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Histological Analyses of Acute Alcoholic Liver Injury in Zebrafish at JoVE.com

Histological Analyses of Acute Alcoholic Liver Injury in Zebrafish

This protocol describes histological analyses of the livers from zebrafish larvae that have been treated with 2% ethanol for 24 h. Such acute ethanol treatment results in hepatic steatosis and swelling of the hepatic vasculature.

Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD) refers to damage to the liver due to acute or chronic alcohol abuse. It is among the leading causes of alcohol-related ...

Research

JoVE Journal

Developmental Biology

Kidney Regeneration in Adult Zebrafish by Gentamicin Induced Injury

The kidney is essential for fluid homeostasis, blood pressure regulation and filtration of waste from the body. The fundamental unit of kidney function is ...

Mechanical Vessel Injury in Zebrafish Embryos

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos have proven to be a powerful model for studying a variety of developmental and disease processes.  External development ...

Automated Quantification of Hematopoietic Cell &#8211; Stromal Cell Interactions in Histological Images of Undecalcified Bone

Automated Quantification of Hematopoietic Cell ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ Stromal Cell Interactions in Histological Images of Undecalcified Bone

Confocal microscopy is the method of choice for the analysis of localization of multiple cell types within complex tissues such as the bone marrow. ...

Hepatocyte-specific Ablation in Zebrafish to Study Biliary-driven Liver Regeneration

The liver has a great capacity to regenerate. Hepatocytes, the parenchymal cells of the liver, can regenerate in one of two ways: hepatocyte- or ...

Analysis of Zebrafish Larvae Skeletal Muscle Integrity with Evans Blue Dye

The zebrafish model is an emerging system for the study of neuromuscular disorders.  In the study of neuromuscular diseases, the integrity of the muscle ...

Development of an Ethanol-induced Fibrotic Liver Model in Zebrafish to Study Progenitor Cell-mediated Hepatocyte Regeneration

Sustained liver fibrosis with continuation of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein build-up results in the loss of cellular competency of the liver, leading ...

Acute and Chronic Models of Hyperglycemia in Zebrafish: A Method to Assess the Impact of Hyperglycemia on Neurogenesis and the Biodistribution of Radiolabeled Molecules

Hyperglycemia is a major health issue that leads to cardiovascular and cerebral dysfunction. For instance, it is associated with increased neurological ...

Precise Cellular Ablation Approach for Modeling Acute Kidney Injury in Developing Zebrafish

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is a common medical condition with a high mortality rate. With the repair abilities of the kidney, it is possible to restore ...

Adult Zebrafish Injury Models to Study the Effects of Prednisolone in Regenerating Bone Tissue

Zebrafish are able to regenerate various organs, including appendages (fins) after amputation. This involves the regeneration of bone, which regrows ...

Controlled Cortical Impact Model of Mouse Brain Injury with Therapeutic Transplantation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Cells

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Disease pathology due to TBI progresses from the primary mechanical ...