PUBLICATION

Mapping the development of cerebellar purkinje cells in zebrafish

Authors
Hamling, K.R., Tobias, Z.J., Weissman, T.A.
ID
ZDB-PUB-150207-10
Date
2015
Source
Developmental Neurobiology   75(11): 1174-88 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
Purkinje cell, cerebellum, development, parvalbumin7, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Cell Count
  • Cell Size
  • Cerebellum/cytology
  • Cerebellum/growth & development*
  • Cerebellum/metabolism
  • Dendrites*/metabolism
  • Fish Proteins/metabolism
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Microscopy, Confocal
  • Models, Animal
  • Parvalbumins/metabolism
  • Purkinje Cells/cytology*
  • Purkinje Cells/metabolism
  • Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1/metabolism
  • Zebrafish/anatomy & histology
  • Zebrafish/growth & development*
  • Zebrafish/metabolism
PubMed
25655100 Full text @ Dev. Neurobiol.
Abstract
The cells that comprise the cerebellum perform a complex integration of neural inputs to influence motor control and coordination. The functioning of this circuit depends upon Purkinje cells and other cerebellar neurons forming in the precise place and time during development. Zebrafish provide a useful platform for modeling disease and studying gene function, thus a quantitative metric of normal zebrafish cerebellar development is key for understanding how gene mutations affect the cerebellum. To begin to quantitatively measure cerebellar development in zebrafish, we have characterized the spatial and temporal patterning of Purkinje cells during the first two weeks of development. Differentiated Purkinje cells first emerged by 2.8 days post fertilization and were spatially patterned into separate dorsomedial and ventrolateral clusters that merged at around four days. Quantification of the Purkinje cell layer revealed that there was a logarithmic increase in both Purkinje cell number as well as overall volume during the first two weeks, while the entire region curved forward in an anterior, then ventral direction. Purkinje cell dendrites were positioned next to parallel fibers as early as 3.3 days, and Purkinje cell diameter decreased significantly from 3.3 to 14 days, possibly due to cytoplasmic reappropriation into maturing dendritic arbors. A nearest neighbor analysis showed that Purkinje cells moved slightly apart from each other from 3 to 14 days, perhaps spreading as the organized monolayer forms. This study establishes a quantitative spatiotemporal map of Purkinje cell development in zebrafish that provides an important metric for studies of cerebellar development and disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping