From acquarium to brain: the importance of zebrafish models in modern neuroscience research

Zebrafish are low-cost, fast and versatile models in biomedical research. First zebrafish lab was established to Turku already in the 90s by Professor Pertti Panula, who is currently running the zebrafish core facility at the University of Helsinki. After Pertti left from Turku, there was no one running a biomedical zebrafish lab until Ilkka Paatero after his postdoc years abroad established a Zebrafish Core Facility at Turku Bioscience research centre about 5 years ago. The efficient use of zebrafish models requires specialized expertise and equipment meaning that Ilkka is collaborating with several other research groups, mainly with cancer research groups. Recently he has started collaboration also with neuroscience researchers and sees that as a very interesting research area.

For more information on Zebrafish Core Facility, please visit:
https://bioscience.fi/services/zebrafish/services/

When I asked from Ilkka why he got interested in zebrafish models he said as follows:

• “We used quite a lot of cell models in our research as well as experiments with mice or with human tissue samples. However I felt that we needed something in between these techniques in order to understand the complex interplay of cells in an organism. Zebrafish was a good choice as they are small vertebrates which mate throughout the year in the laboratory. Actually in most of the cases we just collect the embryos and/or larvae and don’t need to sacrifice the adult fish at all.”

Indeed, zebrafishes can be used as ethical and high-throughput animal models as hundred of thousands of embryos can be provided rapidly and without sacrificing the animal itself.

Neuroscience studies with zebrafish uses typically two measurement methods: one is measuring motility (usually with 96-well plate format) and the other is measuring fluorescence of the embryos with microscopy. Imaging of zebrafish is easy as embryos are translucent. Zebrafish is a good tool to study CNS disorders because adult zebrafish have a full range of complex brain structures and functions, such as an endothelial blood-brain barrier and adult neurogenesis. Ilkka’s lab recently utilized an epilepsy model by administrating PTZ (pentylene tetrazolium) – a compound which induces neuronal activity and epileptic seizures. Motility of embryos was significantly increased after PTZ administration. In addition, by real time imaging with stereomicroscope it was possible to see the bursts of electrical activity in the brain of the embryo.

Zebrafish models have become important tools in today’s neuroscience research. In case you are interested in using fish models in your research, you can contact Ilkka Paatero, he is happy to help you!
zebrafish@bioscience.fi