Zebrafish Scale Regeneration In Toto and Ex Vivo Culture of Scales

One of the advantages of using fish scales for research is that they contain both osteoblast and osteoclast, which are essential for bone remodeling. When the scales are cultured ex vivo, we can study the interactions of these two cell populations along with the skeletal matrix, unlike traditional cell culture where there's typically only one type of cell. An advantage of using fish scales for research is that they are abundant on the fish, readily harvested, and they are translucent, allowing better ex vivo imaging.

As the scales can completely regenerate, they allow us to study bone regeneration which rarely occurs in mammalian models. The protocols we present here allow us to dissect cell interactions better. This will allow us to test how the different cell types respond to aging and to changes in circadian rhythm.