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Methods to Study Liver Disease Using Zebrafish Larvae

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Zebrafish

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2707))

Abstract

Liver disease affects millions of people worldwide, and the high morbidity and mortality is attributed in part to the paucity of treatment options. In many cases, liver injury self-resolves due to the remarkable regenerative capacity of the liver, but in cases when regeneration cannot compensate for the injury, inflammation and fibrosis occur, creating a setting for the emergence of liver cancer. Whole animal models are crucial for deciphering the basic biological underpinnings of liver biology and pathology and, importantly, for developing and testing new treatments for liver disease before it progresses to a terminal state. The cellular components and functions of the zebrafish liver are highly similar to mammals, and zebrafish develop many diseases that are observed in humans, including toxicant-induced liver injury, fatty liver, fibrosis, and cancer. Therefore, the widespread use of zebrafish larvae for studying the mechanisms of these pathologies and for developing potential treatments necessitates the optimization of experimental approaches to assess liver disease in this model. Here, we describe protocols using staining methods, imaging, and gene expression analysis to assess liver injury, fibrosis, and preneoplastic changes in the liver of larval zebrafish.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Shashi Ranjan for expert fish care and Joshua Morrison for the optimization of the IF protocol. This work is supported by the Al Jalila Foundation (AJF2018098 to KSE), NYUAD Research Enhancement Fund (RE188 to KSE), and R01 DK121154, R01 DK121154-01A1S1 to JC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Biology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Elena Magnani, Anjana Ramdas Nair, Ian McBain, Patrice Delaney & Kirsten C. Sadler

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Jaime Chu

Authors
  1. Elena Magnani
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  2. Anjana Ramdas Nair
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  3. Ian McBain
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  4. Patrice Delaney
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  5. Jaime Chu
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  6. Kirsten C. Sadler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kirsten C. Sadler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    James F. Amatruda

  2. Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, MRC Centre for NeuroDevelopmental Disorders, King’s College London, London, UK

    Corinne Houart

  3. Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan

    Koichi Kawakami

  4. Duke Regeneration Center, Department of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Kenneth D. Poss

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© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Magnani, E., Nair, A.R., McBain, I., Delaney, P., Chu, J., Sadler, K.C. (2024). Methods to Study Liver Disease Using Zebrafish Larvae. In: Amatruda, J.F., Houart, C., Kawakami, K., Poss, K.D. (eds) Zebrafish. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2707. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3401-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3401-1_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-3400-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-3401-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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