Name: visualizing the developing brain in living zebrafish using brainbow and time-lapse confocal imaging
Uploaded: 2020-03-23T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Visualizing the Developing Brain in Living Zebrafish using Brainbow and Time-lapse Confocal Imaging at JoVE.com

We thank Y. A. Pan, J. Livet and Z. Tobias for technical and intellectual contributions. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (Award 1553764) and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.

Procedures involving animal subjects have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Lewis &#38; Clark College.
1. Microinjection of Zebrafish Embryos
<ol>
	<li>Set up wild type, adult zebrafish in sex-segregated mating tanks the afternoon prior to performing microinjections39,40.</li>
	<li>Prepare the DNA solution in the morning of the microinjections. Dilute hsp:Zebrabow11...

This protocol describes a method to visualize clones of progenitor cells and neurons in the developing zebrafish hindbrain and follow them in vivo using Brainbow and time-lapse confocal microscopy11. The major advantage of this protocol in comparison to in vitro or ex vivo studies is the ability to directly observe the proliferative zone of the vertebrate brain in its natural milieu over time. This technique builds on previous studies&#160;that labeled a single clone using retroviral vectors. In c...

In the early phases of development, pools of specialized progenitor cells divide repeatedly in proliferative zones, producing diverse arrays of daughter cells. The cells born during this developmental period will then differentiate and travel to form the nascent organs. In the nervous system, progenitors such as radial glia give rise to immature neurons in ventricular zones. As neurons migrate away from ventricles and mature, the expanding tissue eventually forms the highly complex structures of the brain1,2,3,4,5,6. The coordination between division of progenitors and differentiation and migration of neurons will determine the eventual size, shape, and thus function of the brain, directly impacting behavior7,8,9,10. While tight control over these processes is clearly crucial for normal brain development, the global mechanisms that regulate these dynamics are not well understood. Here we describe a tool to study nervous system development at a cellular resolution, allowing researchers to visualize progenitor cells and neurons in vivo in the developing zebrafish brain with Brainbow and track their behavior over time via time-lapse confocal microscopy11. The approach can also be adapted to visualize other parts of the developing embryo.
To observe and distinguish among cells in the developing zebrafish brain, we have adapted the Brainbow cell-labeling technique11. Brainbow utilizes the randomly determined, combinatorial expression of three distinct fluorescent proteins (FPs) to label a population of cells. While the default expression for Brainbow expression is the red FP dTomato, recombination by the enzyme Cre recombinase results in expression of mCerulean (cyan fluorescent protein, CFP) or yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)12,13. The combined amount of each FP expressed in a cell gives it a unique hue, allowing clear visual distinction from neighboring cells. Additionally, when a progenitor cell divides, each daughter cell will inherit the color from its mother cell, producing color-coded clones and allowing researchers to trace cell lineage11,14. While originally used to analyze neuronal circuitry in mice12, Brainbow has since been expressed in a wide variety of model organisms, including zebrafish15.
Our technique builds on previous multicolor labeling and imaging methods to directly image multiple color-coded clones over time in living zebrafish. Due to their optical transparency as embryos, zebrafish are well suited to imaging experiments16, and previous studies have utilized Brainbow in zebrafish to study a variety of tissues, including the nervous system11,15,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27. The ability to directly image into the living organism, along with their rapid ex utero development, make zebrafish a valuable model of vertebrate development. In contrast to the mammalian brain, the entire proliferative zone of the zebrafish hindbrain is readily available for imaging without disruption to its endogenous environment6. This allows experiments to be conducted in the living organism, rather than in in vitro or fixed tissue preparations. In contrast to fixed imaging experiments, in vivo studies allow for a longitudinal design, producing hours of data that can be analyzed for patterns, thus increasing the likelihood of observing relatively rare events. Depending upon the speed and length of the events of interest, researchers may choose to perform short (1&#8211;2 h) or long (up to ~16 h) time-lapse imaging experiments. By using the zebrafish heat shock promoter 70 (hsp70, hsp), Brainbow expression can be temporally controlled28,29. Additionally, the mosaic expression induced by this promoter is well suited for labeling and tracking many clones11.
The ability to visually identify multiple clones within the living brain is an advantage of this method. Important previous studies that investigated the role of clones within development of the nervous system utilized retroviral vectors to label a single progenitor cell and its progeny using a single FP or other readily visualized protein. Such labeling allows researchers to observe a single clone over time, either in vitro or in vivo2,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38. In contrast to methods to track the behavior of cells within one clone, the distinct colors of Brainbow allow researchers to observe dynamics among clones. Additionally, by using Brainbow to label many clones within the brain, additional data on clonal behavior is collected relative to techniques that label a single clone11. Importantly, the approaches described here can be expanded to generate developmental comparisons between fish that have undergone different genetic or pharmacological manipulations18. Overall, these advantages make time-lapse in vivo confocal imaging of Brainbow-expressing zebrafish ideal for researchers exploring development of the vertebrate nervous system, particularly those interested in the role of clones.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>1.5mL transfer pipet</td>
			<td>Globe Scientific, Inc.</td>
			<td>134020</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1-phenyl-2-thiourea (PTU)</td>
			<td>Alfa Aesar</td>
			<td>L06690</td>
			<td>Diluted to 0.2 mM in E3 to prevent embryo pigmentation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>50ml conical tubes</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>352070</td>
			<td>For heat shocking embryos</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>6 lb nylon fishing line</td>
			<td>SecureLine</td>
			<td>NMT250</td>
			<td>For making embryo manipulators</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>7.5mL transfer pipet</td>
			<td>Globe Scientific, Inc.</td>
			<td>135010</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CaCl2</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>C3881</td>
			<td>For E3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cotton swabs</td>
			<td>Puritan</td>
			<td>867-WC NO GLUE</td>
			<td>For making embryo manipulators</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cre recombinase</td>
			<td>New England Biolabs</td>
			<td>M0298M</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Digital dry bath</td>
			<td>Genemate</td>
			<td>490016-616</td>
			<td>Used to store LMA at 40&#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Epifluorescence dissection scope</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Glass capillary tubes</td>
			<td>World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td>TW100F-4</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Incubator</td>
			<td>Forma Scientific</td>
			<td>3158</td>
			<td>To maintain embryos at 28&#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Injection plate molds</td>
			<td>Adaptive Science Tools</td>
			<td>TU-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Isotemp water bath</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>2320</td>
			<td>For heat shocking embryos</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>KCl</td>
			<td>AMRESCO</td>
			<td>0395</td>
			<td>For E3 and for DNA solution for injections</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Laser-scanning confocal microscope</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td>LSM710</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LE agarose</td>
			<td>Genemate</td>
			<td>E3120</td>
			<td>To create agarose injection plates</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Low-melt agarose (LMA)</td>
			<td>AMRESCO</td>
			<td>J234</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mating tanks</td>
			<td>Aquaneering, Inc.</td>
			<td>ZHCT100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Methylene blue</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>M9140</td>
			<td>For E3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MgSO4</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>9397</td>
			<td>For E3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Micromanipulator</td>
			<td>World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td>M3301</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Micropipette Puller</td>
			<td>Sutter Instrument Co.</td>
			<td>P-97</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MS-222 Tricaine-S</td>
			<td>Western Chemical, Inc.</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Stock made at 4 mg/mL in reverse osmosis (RO) water, then added dropwise to E3 to final concentration of 0.2 mM to anesthetize embryos</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaCl</td>
			<td>J.T. Baker</td>
			<td>4058-01</td>
			<td>For E3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Petri dishes (90 mm, 60 mm)</td>
			<td>Genesee Scientific</td>
			<td>32-107G</td>
			<td>To house embryos and create imaging chamber (60 mm)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phenol red</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>P0290</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Soft stitch ring markers</td>
			<td>Clover Needlecraft, Inc.</td>
			<td>354</td>
			<td>For creating imaging chamber with Petri dish</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Super glue (Ultra gel control)</td>
			<td>Loctite</td>
			<td>1363589</td>
			<td>For making embryo manipulators</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Syringe needles</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>BD329412</td>
			<td>For dechorionating embryos</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

visualizing the developing brain in living zebrafish using brainbow and time-lapse confocal imaging

Development of the vertebrate nervous system requires a precise coordination of complex cellular behaviors and interactions. The use of high resolution in vivo imaging techniques can provide a clear window into these processes in the living organism. For example, dividing cells and their progeny can be followed in real time as the nervous system forms. In recent years, technical advances in multicolor techniques have expanded the types of questions that can be investigated. The multicolor Brainbow approach can be used to not only distinguish among like cells, but also to color-code multiple different clones of related cells that each derive from one progenitor cell. This allows for a multiplex lineage analysis of many different clones and their behaviors simultaneously during development. Here we describe a technique for using time-lapse confocal microscopy to visualize large numbers of multicolor Brainbow-labeled cells over real time within the developing zebrafish nervous system. This is particularly useful for following cellular interactions among like cells, which are difficult to label differentially using traditional promoter-driven colors. Our approach can be used for tracking lineage relationships among multiple different clones simultaneously. The large datasets generated using this technique provide rich information that can be compared quantitatively across genetic or pharmacological manipulations. Ultimately the results generated can help to answer systematic questions about how the nervous system develops.

This section illustrates examples of results that can be obtained using the in vivo multicolor time-lapse imaging approach described here. We show that Brainbow color-coded clones of cells in the proliferative ventricular zone of the developing zebrafish hindbrain14 (Figure 1).
Typically, when Brainbow-labeled cells were arranged along a particular radial fiber, they shared the same color (Figure 1D), which cou...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Visualizing the Developing Brain in Living Zebrafish using Brainbow and Time-lapse Confocal Imaging at JoVE.com

Visualizing the Developing Brain in Living Zebrafish using Brainbow and Time-lapse Confocal Imaging

In vivo imaging is a powerful tool that can be used to investigate the cellular mechanisms underlying nervous system development. Here we describe a technique for using time-lapse confocal microscopy to visualize large numbers of multicolor Brainbow-labeled cells in real time within the developing zebrafish nervous system.

Development of the vertebrate nervous system requires a precise coordination of complex cellular behaviors and interactions. The use of high resolution in ...

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