Here we demonstrate a method for quantifying liver size in larval zebrafish, providing a way to assess the effects of genetic and pharmacologic manipulations on liver growth and development.
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Method Article
Quantifying Liver Size in Larval Zebrafish Using Brightfield Microscopy
* These authors contributed equally
In This Article
Summary
Abstract
In several transgenic zebrafish models of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), hepatomegaly can be observed during early larval stages. Quantifying larval liver size in zebrafish HCC models provides a means to rapidly assess the effects of drugs and other manipulations on an oncogene-related phenotype. Here we show how to fix zebrafish larvae, dissect the tissues surrounding the liver, photograph livers using bright-field microscopy, measure liver area, and analyze results. This protocol enables rapid, precise quantification of liver size. As this method involves measuring liver area, it may underestimate differences in liver volume, and complementary methodologies are required to differentiate between changes in cell size and changes in cell number. The dissection technique described herein is an excellent tool to visualize the liver, gut, and pancreas in their natural positions for myriad downstream applications including immunofluorescence staining and in situ hybridization. The described strategy for quantifying larval liver size is applicable to many aspects of liver development and regeneration.
Introduction
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignancy of the liver1 and the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality2. To better understand mechanisms of hepatocarcinogenesis and identify potential HCC therapeutics, we and others have developed transgenic zebrafish in which hepatocyte-specific expression of oncogenes such as β-catenin3,4, Kras(V12)5,6, Myc7, or Yap18 leads to HCC in adult animals. In these zebrafish, liver enlargem....
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Protocol
Animal studies are carried out following procedures approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the University of Utah.
1. Fixing Larvae
- At 3–7 days post fertilization (dpf), euthanize larvae with tricaine methanesulfonate (0.03%) and collect up to 15 larvae in a 2 mL tube using a glass pipette and pipette pump.
- Wash larvae twice with 1 mL of cold (4 °C) 1x phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) on ice. For each wash, remove as much liquid as possible from the tube with a glass pipette and pipette pump, and then add 1 mL of cold PBS to tube.
- Remove as much PBS as possible using ....
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Results
Transgenic zebrafish expressing hepatocyte-specific activated β-catenin (Tg(fabp10a:pt-β-cat) zebrafish)3 and non-transgenic control siblings were euthanized at 6 dpf and liver area was quantified using brightfield microscopy and image processing software. Transgenic zebrafish have significantly increased liver size (0.0006 cm2) as compared to their non-transgenic siblings (0.0004 cm2, p < 0.0001; Figure 1).
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Discussion
Quantification of liver size is crucial in studies aimed at understanding liver development, regeneration, and oncogenesis. The protocol described here is a relatively quick, easy, and cheap technique for liver size quantification in larval zebrafish. Exercising appropriate caution while performing certain aspects of the protocol can aid in increased accuracy of results and decreased frustration.
Proper fixation of the larvae is crucial towards getting well-preserved biological samples and pre.......
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Disclosures
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge Maurine Hobbs and the Centralized Zebrafish Animal Resource (CZAR) at the University of Utah for providing zebrafish husbandry, laboratory space, and equipment to carry out portions of this research. Expansion of the CZAR is supported in part by NIH grant # 1G20OD018369-01. We would also like to thank Rodney Stewart, Chloe Lim, Lance Graham, Cody James, Garrett Nickum, and the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) Zebrafish Facility for zebrafish care. We would like to thank Kenneth Kompass for help with R programming. This work was funded in part by grants from the Huntsman Cancer Foundation (in conjunction with grant P30 CA042014 awarded to Hu....
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Materials
| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camera for dissecting microscope | Leica, for example | ||
| Dissecting microscope | Leica, for example | ||
| Fine (Dumont #5) forceps | Fine Science Tools | 11254-20 | |
| Glass pipets | VWR | 14672-608 | |
| Image analysis software | Image J/FIJI | ImageJ/FIJI can be dowloaded for free: https://imagej.net/Welcome | |
| Methyl cellulose | Sigma | M0387 | |
| Paraformaldehyde | Sigma Aldrich | P6148 | |
| Phosphate-buffered saline | Various suppliers | ||
| Pipette pump | VWR | 53502-233 | |
| Plastic Petri dishes | USA Scientific Inc | 2906 | |
| Pyrex 9-well round-bottom glass dish | VWR | 89090-482 | |
| Software for blinding files | R project | R can be downloaded for free: https://www.r-project.org/ | |
| Scientific graphing and statistics software | GraphPad Prism | ||
| Spreadsheet program | Microsoft Excel | ||
| Tricaine methanesulfonate (Tricaine-S) | Western Chemical | 200-226 | |
| Very fine (Dumont #55) forceps | Fine Science Tools | 11255-20 |
References
- Lin, D. -C., et al. Genomic and Epigenomic Heterogeneity of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Cancer Research. 77 (9), 2255-2265 (2017).
- Ghouri, Y. A., Mian, I., Rowe, J. H. Review of hepatocellular carcinoma: Epidemiology, etiology, and carcinogenesis....
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