Abstract
A key feature of inflammatory cells is the ability to migrate to a site of injury or infection quickly and efficiently. Infectious agents can then be taken up by these inflammatory cells, preventing established infection. Inflammatory cell migration is driven by a complex interaction between inflammatory cells and their environment. In order to maintain health, inflammation needs to resolve, allowing the surrounding tissues to recover and heal. These processes are not fully understood and have been difficult to study in cell culture due to the complex interactions between cell types. We therefore use a range of techniques in near-transparent zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae to study these migration events in a whole-organism, in vivo model. Using a transgenic zebrafish line that specifically marks neutrophils with green fluorescent protein, Tg(mpx:GFP)i114, we are able to follow neutrophil behaviour at a single cell level. Using these methods, the cellular processes involved in all phases of inflammation can be studied and better understood.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Lieschke, G.J., Oates, A.C., Crowhurst, M.O., Ward, A.C., Layton, J.E. (2001) Morphologic and functional characterization of granulocytes and macrophages in embryonic and adult zebrafish. Blood 98, 3087–96.
Lieschke, G.J., Currie, P.D. (2007) Animal models of human disease: zebrafish swim into view. Nat Rev Genet 8, 353–67.
Trede, N.S., Langenau, D.M., Traver, D., Look, A.T., Zon, L.I. (2004) The use of zebrafish to understand immunity. Immunity 20, 367–79.
Carradice, D., Lieschke, G.J. (2008) Zebrafish in hematology: sushi or science? Blood 111, 3331–42.
Renshaw, S.A., Loynes, C.A., Trushell, D.M., Elworthy, S., Ingham, P.W., Whyte, M.K. (2006) A transgenic zebrafish model of neutrophilic inflammation. Blood 108, 3976–8.
Nasevicius, A., Ekker, S.C. (2000) Effective targeted gene ‘knockdown’ in zebrafish. Nat Genet 26, 216–20.
Savill, J.S., Wyllie, A.H., Henson, J.E., Walport, M.J., Henson, P.M., Haslett, C. (1989) Macrophage phagocytosis of aging neutrophils in inflammation. Programmed cell death in the neutrophil leads to its recognition by macrophages. J Clin Invest 83, 865–75.
Martin, R.T., Bartman, T. (2009) Analysis of heart valve development in larval zebrafish. Dev Dyn 238, 1796–802.
Brown, S.B., Tucker, C.S., Ford, C., Lee, Y., Dunbar, D.R., Mullins, J.J. (2007) Class III antiarrhythmic methanesulfonanilides inhibit leukocyte recruitment in zebrafish. J Leukoc Biol 82, 79–84.
Redd, M.J., Cooper, L., Wood, W., Stramer, B., Martin, P. (2004) Wound healing and inflammation: embryos reveal the way to perfect repair. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 359, 777–84.
Herbomel, P., Thisse, B., Thisse, C. (2001) Zebrafish early macrophages colonize cephalic mesenchyme and developing brain, retina, and epidermis through a M-CSF receptor-dependent invasive process. Dev Biol 238, 274–88.
Loynes, C.A., Martin, J.S., Robertson, A., Trushell, D.M., Ingham, P.W., Whyte, M.K., Renshaw, S.A. Pivotal Advance: PharmacoÂlogical manipulation of inflammation resolution during spontaneously resolving tissue neutrophilia in the zebrafish. J Leukoc Biol 87, 203–12.
Elks, P.M., van Eeden, F.J., Dixon, G., Wang, X., Reyes-Aldasoro, C.C., Ingham, P.W., Whyte, M.K.B., Walmsley, S.R., and Renshaw, S.A. (2011) Activation of Hif-1alpha delays inflammation resolution by reducing neutrophil apoptosis and reverse migration in a zebrafish inflammation model. Blood. In press.
Nusslein-Volhard C, D.R. (2002) Zebrafish: A Practical Approach. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Ellett, F., Pase, L., Hayman, J.W., Andrian-opoulos, A., and Lieschke, G.J. (2010) mpeg1 promoter transgenes direct macrophage-lineage expression in zebrafish. Blood. In press.
Gray, C., Loynes, C.A., Whyte, M.K.B., Crossman, D.C., Renshaw, S.A., and Chico, T.J.A. (2011) Simultaneous intravital imaging of macrophage and neutrophil behaviour during inflammation using a novel transgenic zebrafish. Thrombosis and Haemostasis 105.
Acknowledgements
SAR and CAL are funded by an MRC Senior Clinical Fellowship to SAR (reference number: G0701932). PME is funded by a project grant from the Wellcome Trust (reference number: WT082909MA). Microscopy studies in our laboratory are supported by a Wellcome Trust grant to the MBB/BMS Light microscopy facility (GR077544AIA), and the laboratory is supported by an MRC Centre grant (G0700091).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Elks, P.M., Loynes, C.A., Renshaw, S.A. (2011). Measuring Inflammatory Cell Migration in the Zebrafish. In: Wells, C., Parsons, M. (eds) Cell Migration. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 769. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-207-6_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-207-6_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-206-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-207-6
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols