Renate Kopp | PubMed Health

PubMed2006

How does blood cell concentration modulate cardiovascular parameters in developing zebrafish (Danio rerio)?

Blood flow and shear forces are considered to be important parameters possibly stimulating angiogenesis or cardiovascular remodeling. The main objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that a significant reduction in shear forces as a consequence of a significant isovolemic anemia induced by microsurgical techniques during early larval development of the zebrafish might induce a compensatory stimulation of erythropoiesis and/or induce a modification of cardiac activity or even the formation of the heart and may influence the shaping of the vascular bed. Blood from 2 day old zebrafish larvae was withdrawn and replaced by zebrafish Ringer's solution, so that the blood cell concentration was reduced by at least 75%. At 5 days post fertilization (dpf) a partial recovery in blood cell concentration was observed and reached a value of 814.55+/-85.42 cells/nL, while in control animals blood cell concentration amounted to 1856.00+/-131.59 cells/nL. At 7 dpf the value of blood cell concentration was 1023.89+/-95.75 cells/nL versus 1701.54+/-146.03 cells/nL in control animals. Compared to control animals, heart rate and cardiac output were significantly reduced in anemic animals and alterations in the formation of the vascular bed were also observed. A significant decrease in the end-diastolic volume suggested that ventricular volume was reduced. Thus, within a few days zebrafish larvae were nearly able to compensate for an isovolemic anemia by an enhanced erythropoiesis. However, several changes in cardiovascular system indicated that phenotypic plasticity is established even at an early developmental stage.

Anemia↗

PubMed2005

Cardiac performance in the zebrafish breakdance mutant.

In the Tubingen screen a breakdance mutant of zebrafish (bre) was described as an arrhythmia, in which the ventricle beats only with every second atrial contraction (2:1 rhythm). Surprisingly, a careful analysis of the effect of the breakdance mutation on cardiac performance of the zebrafish during development between 3 d.p.f. and 14 d.p.f revealed that homozygous bre mutants did not always show the 2:1 rhythm. Cardiac activity was continuously recorded for a period of 20 min in each larva, and during this period we observed that heart rate randomly switched between the 2:1 rhythm and a 1:1 rhythm. Furthermore, at 28 degrees C and at 31 degrees C the expression of the 2:1 rhythm decreased with development. At 31 degrees C this was in part due to a significantly reduced survival rate of mutants beyond 4 d.p.f. Besides development, temperature had a marked effect on the expression of the 2:1 rhythm, and during the first days of development the expression of the 2:1 rhythm was significantly higher at elevated incubation temperatures. By contrast, in the 2:1 beating heart ventricular contraction rate was about 80 beats min(-1) throughout development irrespective of the temperature, and even in the 1:1 rhythm mutants showed a significant bradycardia at all three temperatures (25 degrees C, 28 degrees C or 31 degrees C). Compared to wild-type animals, cardiac output was significantly lower in bre mutants. Pressure traces recorded in the ventricle of mutants revealed a prolonged relaxation phase, indicating that the second pacemaker current could not be conveyed to the ventricle (AV-block). This phenotype is comparable to the human Long QT Syndrome, an arrhythmia caused by a modification of an ion channel involved in cardiac repolarization. The bradycardia and the modified temperature sensitivity of heart rate suggested that the activity of the pacemaker cells was also affected by this mutation.

Animals↗