Name: Non-invasive Imaging of the Innate Immune Response in a Zebrafish Larval Model of Streptococcus iniae Infection (Video) | JoVE Journal
Uploaded: 2015-04-21T14:00:00.000+00:00
Duration: 11 min 16 s
Description: Learn microinjection of zebrafish larvae with Streptococcus iniae for live imaging of innate immune responses. This protocol enables non-invasive visualization of host-pathogen interactions using confocal microscopy and photo labeling techniques.

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5 minutes

The authors would like to thank lab members for zebrafish care and maintenance. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health, National Research Service Award A155397 to E. A. Harvie and NIH R01GM074827 to Anna Huttenlocher.

Adult and embryonic zebrafish were maintained in accordance with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Research Animal Resources Center.
1. Preparing Microinjection Needles
<ol>
	<li>Prepare thin wall glass capillary injection needles (1.0 OD/0.75 ID) using a micropipette puller device with the following settings: air pressure 200, heat 502, pull 90, velocity 80, time 70, air time at start of pull 5, air time at end of pull 5.</li>
	<li>Using fine tweezers, break off the tip of the pulled needle so that the tip opening has a diameter of approximately 10 &#181;m.</li>
</ol>
2. Preparing Larval Injection Dishes
<ol>
	<li>Rinse a gel comb with lane width of approximately 4-5 mm in sterile water and allow to dry.</li>
	<li>Prepare a 1.5-2% high melt agarose solution in E3 medium19 and microwave until the solution is clear. Once cooled, pour some of the agarose into a Petri dish (100 x 15 mm) and swirl, adding just enough agarose to completely cover the bottom of the dish.</li>
	<li>Once the agarose layer has solidified, place the rinsed and dried gel comb on top so that the non-combed end is just resting on the top of the Petri dish and the combed end is touching the agarose. Ensure that the comb is as horizontal as possible, creating a 30&#176; angle with respect to the bottom agarose layer.</li>
	<li>Pour an additional small amount of agarose at the interface between the comb and bottom agarose&#160;layer so that the fresh agarose layer covers the wells of the comb. Allow to cool completely before removing the comb. Using a pipet tip, remove any overhanging pieces of agarose from the wells.</li>
	<li>Pour E3 medium on top of the injection mold and store at 4 &#176;C.</li>
	<li>Before each use, replace with fresh medium and warm injection ramps at 28.5 &#176;C for at least an hour before injection.</li>
	<li>Immediately prior to injections, replace the E3 on the injection ramp with E3 medium containing 200 &#181;g/ml ethyl 3-aminobenzoate (tricaine).</li>
</ol>
3. Preparing S. iniae Inoculum
<ol>
	<li>Prepare and autoclave Todd Hewitt broth medium supplemented with 0.2% yeast extract and 2% proteose peptone (THY+P): 30 g/L Todd Hewitt, 2 g/L yeast extract, 20 g/L proteose peptone. For agar plates, add 14 g/L agar.</li>
	<li>Prepare bacterial cultures the night before infections by pipetting a 100 &#181;l aliquot of frozen bacterial stock into 10 ml of THY+P broth in a sealed 15 ml tube. Incubate overnight without agitation at 37 &#176;C. After 14-16 hr of growth, use the overnight culture either to make freezer stocks or prepare for use in injections.</li>
	<li>Make freezer stocks by placing 1 ml of the overnight culture in 500 &#181;l of 80% glycerol in a 1.7 ml centrifuge tube. To avoid freeze-thaw cycles, make 100 &#181;l one-use aliquots from this mix and store at -80 &#176;C.</li>
	<li>For S. iniae used in infections, dilute the overnight culture 1:100 for a total volume of 10 ml culture by adding 0.1 ml of overnight culture to 9.9 ml of THY+P broth. Grow at 37 &#176;C without agitation for approximately 4-5 hr. Monitor the optical density (OD) at 600 nm using a Nanodrop spectrophotometer and harvest the bacteria in mid-logarithmic phase when the OD600 nm reaches 0.250-0.500. An OD600 nm of 0.250 corresponds to approximately 108 colony forming units (CFU)/ml.</li>
	<li>Pellet 1 ml of the bacterial culture in a 1.7 ml centrifuge tube at 1,500 x g for 5 min. Resuspend in 1 ml of fresh PBS and repeat. Measure the OD600 nm of the bacteria in PBS, pellet, and resuspend in PBS to achieve the desired concentration.</li>
	<li>To aid in the visualization of microinjection, add phenol red to the bacterial suspensions prior to injection for a final concentration of 0.1%.</li>
	<li>For experiments involving the injection of heat-killed bacteria, heat the bacteria in PBS at 95 &#176;C for 30 min. Confirm that the heat-killing process reduced the number of viable bacteria to undetectable levels by plating an injection volume (approximately 1 nl) on solid THY+P agar plates and incubating overnight at 37 &#176;C.</li>
</ol>
4. Labeling S. iniae with a CellTracker Red Fluorescent Dye
<ol>
	<li>To label living bacterial cells, prepare a stock solution of a CellTracker fluorescent dye or equivalent. As the dye used comes in 20 x 50 &#181;g aliquots of powder and needs to be resuspended in DMSO, add 7.3 &#181;l DMSO to the tube to obtain a 10 mM stock concentration.</li>
	<li>Test a range of dye concentrations (e.g., 0.5-25 &#181;M) on the bacteria to determine the lowest optimal concentration that stains the cells. Rapidly dividing cells and longer experiments may require a higher concentration of dye.
	<ol>
		<li>Pellet 1.0 ml of bacterial culture in a 1.7 ml tube by centrifugation as described above (section 3). Resuspend the pellet in 1 ml fresh PBS and add the appropriate volume of dye to the bacterial culture.</li>
		<li>Incubate without agitation at 37 &#176;C for 30 min. Spin down the bacteria and resuspend in 1 ml of pre-warmed THY+P broth and incubate without agitation for an additional 30 min at 37 &#176;C.</li>
		<li>Spin down the bacteria and wash two times in PBS before measuring the OD600 nm and diluting the bacteria for microinjection as detailed above (section 3). We typically inject approximately 100 CFU in 1 nl injection volume for our studies of leukocyte recruitment and phagocytosis.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
5. Preparation of Zebrafish Larvae for Infections
<ol>
	<li>Set up breeding pairs the night before and collect embryos as described by Rosen et al.27 Incubate embryos in E3 medium at 28.5 &#176;C until ready to infect.</li>
	<li>For zebrafish that will be imaged, prevent the development of pigment (melanization) by adding N-Phenylthiourea (PTU) to the E3 medium at 24 hr post fertilization (hpf) for a final concentration of 0.2 nM.</li>
	<li>For infections involving embryos aged 2 dpf, dechorionate embryos manually with a pair of fine tweezers. Alternatively, dechorionate embryos by removing E3 and replacing with pronase (2 mg/ml) for about 5 min or until gentle pipetting breaks embryos out of the chorion. Most larvae should have hatched naturally by 3 dpf.</li>
	<li>Anesthetize zebrafish several minutes prior to infection by placing dechorionated larvae into E3 medium containing 200 &#181;g/ml tricaine.</li>
</ol>
6. Otic Vesicle Injection of S. iniae into Three Day Old Larvae
<ol>
	<li>Turn on the microinjector and set the time range to &#8220;millisecond&#8221;. Open the valve on the carbon dioxide tank to let gas into the line. The pressure of the microinjector should read approximately 20 PSI. Adjust the pressure in the microinjector unit by clockwise turning of the black knurled knob for increased pressure or counterclockwise turning for decreased pressure.</li>
	<li>Vortex the prepared S. iniae culture in phenol red and PBS and use a microloader tip to load 2-3 &#181;l of the culture into a pulled capillary injection needle.</li>
	<li>Mount the loaded needle on a micromanipulator connected to a magnetic stand and position it under a stereomicroscope so that the needle is at approximately a 45-65&#176; angle with respect to the base of the microscope.</li>
	<li>Press on the foot pedal of the microinjector to dispense a drop of the inoculum onto the tip of the needle. Measure the diameter of the drop using the scale bar in the ocular lens of the microscope.
	<ol>
		<li>Alternatively, estimate the diameter of the drop by injecting a volume into a drop of mineral oil on a glass microscope slide with a scale bar. The diameter of the drop should be approximately 0.10 mm, which is about a 1 nl volume.</li>
		<li>Adjust the drop size by adjusting the duration setting on the microinjector or by clipping off more of the needle tip with fine tweezers. Note that the injection time should be between 20 - 35 msec to avoid causing too much tissue damage.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Using a plastic transfer pipet, transfer 12 anesthetized larvae into each well of the injection mold.</li>
	<li>Use a glass rod, hair loop, or plastic tip to gently position the larvae so that the heads are pointed towards the back of the microscope and the yolk sacs are against the left side of the well. Point the left ear of the larva up towards the ceiling.</li>
	<li>Looking through the ocular lens of the stereomicroscope, use the knobs on the micromanipulator to line up the loaded needle with the otic vesicle so that both are in the same field of view. Pierce the outer epithelial layer of the otic vesicle with the needle tip so that the needle tip is just inside the vesicle.</li>
	<li>Press on the foot pedal to inject 1 nl of the desired dose of S. iniae. Be sure to use a low enough pressure so as not to rupture the cavity. If the injection is successful, the otic vesicle, but not the surrounding tissue, should fill with the phenol red inoculum (Figure 1 Ai). Immediately remove any mis-injected fish from the injection plate.</li>
	<li>Carefully retract the needle out of the larva and move the injection plate by hand so that the next larva is in view. Do this under 5X magnification. 
	Note: Retraction of the needle may result in the deposition of some bacteria outside of the otic vesicle, which may skew survival and leukocyte recruitment results. To avoid this, it is recommended to inject fluorescent dye-labeled bacteria and visually scan injected larvae under a fluorescent microscope to remove any larvae where this has occurred. A correctly injected larva is shown in (Figure 1 Bi).</li>
	<li>To ensure the injection volume/inoculum remains the same over the course of the experiment, inject a drop of the bacterial suspension into a 1.7 ml centrifuge tube containing 100 &#181;l of sterile PBS after every 48th embryo. Plate the 100 &#181;l on THY+P agar plates at 37 &#176;C overnight to determine the CFU in the injection volume.</li>
	<li>When the entire group of 12 larvae on the injection ramp has been injected, carefully use a plastic transfer pipette to remove the larvae from the wells and place them into a new Petri dish (35 x 10 mm2). Remove the tricaine solution and replace with approximately 2 ml of fresh E3 medium to allow the larvae to recover.</li>
	<li>Pipet injected larvae into single wells of a 96-well plate and incubate at 28.5 &#176;C. Monitor larvae over time for survival in these plates or remove later for imaging or CFU counts.</li>
</ol>
7. Sudan Black Staining of Neutrophils
Note: The following steps can be done at room temperature in a small Petri dish (35 x 10 mm2) on an orbital shaker unless otherwise stated. For each step, the amount of reagent used is approximately 2 ml per dish, using just enough liquid to completely cover the larvae.
<ol>
	<li>For fixation of infected larvae, use a glass Pasteur pipette to remove E3 medium and replace with an ice-cold 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS solution. Immediately place the fish at 4 &#176;C to euthanize. Fix overnight at 4 &#176;C.</li>
	<li>Wash 3 times in PBS for 5 min each.</li>
	<li>Stain with Sudan Black (0.18% stock diluted 1:5 in 70% ethanol, 0.1% phenol) for 30 min to 5 hr. Use a stereomicroscope to check if neutrophil granules have taken up the stain.</li>
	<li>Perform a series of 5 min washes starting with a single wash in 70% ethanol followed by a single wash of a 1:1 ratio of 70% ethanol and PBS, followed by a final wash in PBS.</li>
	<li>Rehydrate into PBS plus 0.1% tween (PBT).</li>
	<li>To clear pigment from the larvae, wash in 1% potassium hydroxide/1% hydrogen peroxide for about 6-10 min. Monitor the sample closely and after about 5 min, check the larvae under a stereomicroscope to see how much of the pigment has cleared. If the solution is left on too long, the yolk sacs will swell and burst.</li>
	<li>Wash 3 times for 5 min each in PBS.</li>
	<li>Store the samples in either PBS or PBT at 4 &#176;C for up to 1 week until ready to image and count.</li>
	<li>To image Sudan Black-stained larvae, transfer the fish into PBT and then into 80% glycerol and place onto a single cavity depression slide. Position fixed larvae under a stereomicroscope using a pipette tip. Image using a color digital camera on a stereomicroscope (Figure 1 Aii-iv).</li>
</ol>
8. Enumeration of Viable Bacteria from Infected Larvae
<ol>
	<li>Euthanize larvae at the desired times post infection in an ice-cold 200-300 mg/L solution of tricaine in E3 medium.</li>
	<li>Pipet euthanized larvae into 1.7 ml centrifuge tubes. Remove the tricaine solution and replace with 100 &#181;l of 0.2% Triton X-100 in PBS (PBSTx).</li>
	<li>Homogenize larvae by passing up and down 10 times through a 27 G needle.</li>
	<li>Prepare serial dilutions of homogenates in sterile PBS. For example, if the infectious dose is 100 CFU, pipet 100 &#181;l of the homogenate into 900 &#181;l sterile PBS. Using a new pipet tip, transfer 100 &#181;l of the diluted homogenate into 900 &#181;l sterile PBS.</li>
	<li>Plate 100 &#181;l of the dilutions on Columbia CNA agar for selective isolation of gram-positive bacteria, and incubate at 37 &#176;C for 48 hr. This medium will provide greater selection than the THY+P agar plates, which will support growth of both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.</li>
	<li>On plates with fewer than 500 individual colonies, count the number of colonies and multiply by the dilution factor to determine the number of CFU.</li>
</ol>
9. Fixation of Larvae for Imaging
<ol>
	<li>Fix larvae in an ice-cold 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS solution as described in section&#160;7.</li>
	<li>At room temperature, wash 3 times for 5 min each in PBS before imaging.</li>
</ol>
10.&#160;Preparation of Larvae for Live Imaging
<ol>
	<li>Prepare a&#160;1.5% low-melting-point agarose solution in E3 by heating in the microwave until the solution is clear.</li>
	<li>Place agarose solution in a 55 &#176;C water bath to let it cool but not harden.</li>
	<li>Add tricaine to the agarose to a final concentration of 0.016%.</li>
	<li>Using a plastic transfer pipette, place 4-5 anesthetized larvae in a glass bottom dish on the stage of a stereomicroscope.</li>
	<li>Remove the tricaine and agarose solution from the 55 &#176;C water bath and let it cool at room temperature for 1-2 min. While the agarose is cooling, remove as much liquid from the anesthetized larvae as possible.</li>
	<li>Pour the cooled agarose into the dish until about half of the surface is covered. Swirl the dish to spread the agarose. Note that if the agarose is too hot, it will kill the larvae. Also, if too much agarose is added to the dish, the objective lens of the microscope may hit the bottom of the dish when focusing through the agarose.</li>
	<li>Using a transfer pipette, pick up the larvae that have floated to the sides of the dish and pipet them back into the center.</li>
	<li>Under the stereomicroscope, gently position the larvae as desired with a hair loop, a long pipette tip or a glass rod. For imaging of the otic vesicle, position the larvae so that the left otic vesicle is flat against the bottom of the dish.</li>
	<li>Let the agarose cool for about 10 min before moving the dish. The larvae may shift positions if the agarose is not solid. Gently pipet some tricaine and E3 solution to the top of the agarose layer to keep it moist.</li>
</ol>
11. Confocal Imaging of Infection
<ol>
	<li>Place the glass bottom dish with larvae onto the stage of an inverted microscope with an FV-1000 laser scanning confocal system.</li>
	<li>Set the pinhole to 200-300 &#181;m and using a numeric aperture 0.75/20X objective lens, set z-stacks with 3-6 &#181;m slices.</li>
	<li>Use continuous line scanning to adjust the laser power and detector gain for each channel.</li>
	<li>Using sequential line scanning for each fluorescence channel (e.g., 488 and 543 nm) and differential interference contrast (DIC), conduct a time lapse movie of the left otic vesicle every 3 min for 2-6 hr to observe initial recruitment and phagocytosis by neutrophils and macrophages. For longer time courses, place a lid on the Petri dish to prevent evaporation and drying out of the agarose.</li>
	<li>Acquire still images of fixed (Figure 1B) or live (Figure 2) larvae at 20X or 40X magnification.</li>
</ol>
12. Photoconversion of Dendra2-labeled Leukocytes at the Otic Vesicle
Note: Dendra2 can be photoconverted from green to red fluorescence by focusing a 405 nm laser (50-70% laser power should be sufficient) on the region of interest (ROI) for 1 min. Below is the step-by-step protocol used for the FV-1000 laser scanning confocal system:
<ol>
	<li>Visualize the sample using a z-stack scan with the 488 nm and 543 nm lasers. Use continuous line scanning to adjust the laser power and detector gain. Check to make sure there is no accidentally photoconverted red fluorescence.</li>
	<li>On the &#8220;Image Acquisition Control&#8221; window, under &#8220;Stimulus Setting&#8221; select the &#8220;Use Scanner&#8221; tool and choose &#8220;main&#8221;. Select the 405 nm laser and set it at 70% power. Using the circle option, define the ROI&#160;in the otic vesicle.</li>
	<li>Under &#8220;Stimulus Start Setting&#8221; select &#8220;Activation in series&#8221; with a preactivation of 1 frame and an activation time of 60,000 msec. On the &#8220;Acquisition Setting&#8221; window under the &#8220;Time Scan heading&#8221;, choose 2 intervals of 00:01:00 (one for pre- and one for post- photoconversion). 
	Note: After the time lapse series scan is complete, the Dendra2 should have been photoconverted to its red fluorescent state.</li>
	<li>Scan the sample by a z-stack using the 488 nm and 543 nm lasers to visualize the photoconverted red fluorescence as well as any remaining green fluorescence (Figure 3).</li>
</ol>

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<li>Davis, J. M., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Real-time+visualization+of+mycobacterium-macrophage+interactions+leading+to+initiation+of+granuloma+formation+in+zebrafish+embryos%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Immunity%22%5BJournal%5D)">Real-time visualization of mycobacterium-macrophage interactions leading to initiation of granuloma formation in zebrafish embryos.</a> Immunity. 17 (6), 693-702 (2002).</li>
<li>Wiles, T. J., Bower, J. M., Redd, M. J., Mulvey, M. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Use+of+Zebrafish+to+Probe+the+Divergent+Virulence+Potentials+and+Toxin+Requirements+of+Extraintestinal+Pathogenic+Escherichia+coli%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22PLoS+Pathog%22%5BJournal%5D)">Use of Zebrafish to Probe the Divergent Virulence Potentials and Toxin Requirements of Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli.</a> PLoS Pathog. 5 (12), e1000697(2009).</li>
<li>Harvie, E. A., Green, J. M., Neely, M. N., Huttenlocher, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Innate+Immune+Response+to+Streptococcus+iniae+Infection+in+Zebrafish+Larvae%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Infect.+Immun%22%5BJournal%5D)">Innate Immune Response to Streptococcus iniae Infection in Zebrafish Larvae.</a> Infect. Immun. 81 (1), 110-121 (2013).</li>
<li>Haddon, C., Lewis, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Early+Ear+Development+in+the+Embryo+of+the+Zebrafish%2C+Danio+rerio%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Comp.+Neurol%22%5BJournal%5D)">Early Ear Development in the Embryo of the Zebrafish, Danio rerio.</a> J. Comp. Neurol. 365, 113-128 (1996).</li>
<li>Whitfield, T. T., Riley, B. B., Chiang, M. -Y., Phillips, B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Development+of+the+zebrafish+inner+ear%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Dev.+Dyn%22%5BJournal%5D)">Development of the zebrafish inner ear.</a> Dev. Dyn. 223 (4), 427-458 (2002).</li>
<li>Rosen, J. N., Sweeney, M. F., Mably, J. D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Microinjection+of+zebrafish+embryos+to+analyze+gene+function%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Vis.+Exp%22%5BJournal%5D)">Microinjection of zebrafish embryos to analyze gene function.</a> J. Vis. Exp. (25), (2009).</li>
<li>Colucci-Guyon, E., Tinevez, J. Y., Renshaw, S. A., Herbomel, P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Strategies+of+professional+phagocytes+in+vivo%3A+unlike+macrophages%2C+neutrophils+engulf+only+surface-associated+microbes%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Cell+Sci%22%5BJournal%5D)">Strategies of professional phagocytes in vivo: unlike macrophages, neutrophils engulf only surface-associated microbes.</a> J. Cell Sci. 124 (18), 3053-3059 (2011).</li>
<li>Gurskaya, N. G., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Engineering+of+a+monomeric+green-to-red+photoactivatable+fluorescent+protein+induced+by+blue+light%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Nat.+Biotechnol%22%5BJournal%5D)">Engineering of a monomeric green-to-red photoactivatable fluorescent protein induced by blue light.</a> Nat. Biotechnol. 24 (4), 461-465 (2006).</li>
<li>Deng, Q., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Localized+bacterial+infection+induces+systemic+activation+of+neutrophils+through+Cxcr2+signaling+in+zebrafish%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22J.+Leukoc.+Biol%22%5BJournal%5D)">Localized bacterial infection induces systemic activation of neutrophils through Cxcr2 signaling in zebrafish.</a> J. Leukoc. Biol. 93 (5), 761-769 (2013).</li>
</ol>

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

The infection method used here is useful for the study of the host immune response to an initially localized infection in 2-3 dpf embryos and larvae. The focus of an inflammatory stimulus, such as infection, in a closed cavity such as the otic vesicle allows for the study of neutrophil and macrophage chemotaxis and phagocytosis. One caveat of injecting bacteria into the otic vesicle is that the ability of neutrophils to efficiently phagocytose bacteria in fluid-filled cavities may be dependent on the particular microbe. ...

Streptococcus iniae is a major aquatic pathogen that is capable of causing systemic disease in both fish and humans1. While S. iniae is responsible for large losses in the aquaculture industry, it is also a potential zoonotic pathogen, capable of causing disease in immunocompromised human hosts with clinical pathologies similar to those caused by other streptococcal human pathogens. Given its similarities with human pathogens, it is important to study S. iniae disease pathogenesis in the context of a natural host. An adult zebrafish model of S. iniae infection revealed robust infiltration of host leukocytes to the localized site of infection as well as a rapid time to host death, a time too short to involve the adaptive immune system7. In order to gain an in-depth look into the innate immune response to S. iniae infection in vivo, it is necessary to use a model that is more amenable to non-invasive live imaging.
The larval zebrafish has a number of advantages that make it an increasingly attractive vertebrate model for studying host-pathogen interactions. Zebrafish are relatively inexpensive and easy to use and maintain compared to mammalian models. Adaptive immunity is not functionally mature until 4-6 weeks post fertilization, but larvae have a highly conserved vertebrate innate immune system with complement, Toll-like receptors, cytokines, and neutrophils and macrophages with antimicrobial capabilities including phagocytosis and respiratory burst2-6,8-11. In addition, the genetic tractability and optical transparency of the embryonic and larval stages of development allow for the generation of stable transgenic lines with fluorescently labeled immune cells making it possible to examine host-pathogen interactions in real time in vivo. The generation of these transgenic lines using a photoconvertible protein such as Dendra2 allows for the tracking of individual host cell origin and fate over the course of infection12.
When developing a zebrafish larval infection model, the chosen site of microinjection will determine whether an infection is initially localized or systemic. Systemic blood infections into the caudal vein or Duct of Cuvier are most commonly used to study microbial pathogens in zebrafish and are useful for studying interactions between host and microbial cells, cytokine responses, and differences in virulence between pathogen strains. For slower growing microorganisms, early injection into the yolk sac of an embryo at the 16-1,000 cell stage can be used to generate a systemic infection13,14, with the optimal developmental stage for microinjection of a slow-growing microorganism found to be between the 16 to 128 cell stage15. However, yolk sac injections of many microbes at later stages of host development tend to be lethal to the host due to the nutrient-rich environment for the microbe and lack of infiltrating leukocytes16-18.
A localized infection usually results in directed migration of leukocytes towards the site of infection that can be easily quantified with non-invasive imaging. This type of infection can allow for dissection of the mechanisms that mediate leukocyte migration as well as investigation of different migratory and phagocytic capabilities of various leukocyte populations. Localized infections are also useful when examining differences in virulence between bacterial strains as well as studying microbe invasion mechanisms since physical host barriers must be crossed for a localized infection to become systemic. Zebrafish are typically raised at temperatures of 25-31 &#176;C19, but they can also be maintained at temperatures as high as 34-35 &#176;C for studies of the invasiveness of certain human pathogens with strict temperature requirements for virulence20,21.
Many different sites have been used to generate an initially localized bacterial infection including the hindbrain ventricle22, dorsal tail muscle18, pericardial cavity23, and otic vesicle (ear)5,16,24. However, it has been found that injection of bacteria into tail muscle can cause tissue damage and inflammation independent of the bacteria, which may skew results when investigating leukocyte response13. Although less damage is associated with injection into the hindbrain and although it is initially devoid of leukocytes in young embryos, the hindbrain ventricle steadily gains more immune cells over time as microglia take up residence. The hindbrain ventricle is also a more difficult location to image. The otic vesicle is a closed hollow cavity with no direct access to the vasculature25,26. It is normally devoid of leukocytes, but leukocytes can be recruited to the otic vesicle in response to inflammatory stimuli such as infection. It is also a preferred site of microinjection of bacteria in zebrafish aged 2-3 days post fertilization (dpf) because of the ease of imaging and the visualization of the injection. Therefore, we chose the otic vesicle as our site of localized bacterial infection.

<table><tbody><tr><td>1.7 ml Eppendorfs</td><td>MidSci</td><td>AVSS1700</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>14 ml Falcon tube</td><td>BD Falcon</td><td>352059</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>27 G x &amp;frac12; in. needle</td><td>BD Biosciences</td><td>305109</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>96-well Plate</td><td>Corning Incorporated</td><td>3596</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Agar</td><td>BD Biosciences</td><td>214030</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>CellTracker Red</td><td>Molecular Probes, Invitrogen</td><td>C34552</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>CNA agar</td><td>Dot Scientific, Inc</td><td>7126A</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Disposable transfer pipets</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>13-711-7m</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Dissecting scope</td><td>Nikon</td><td>SMZ745</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>DMSO</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>D2650</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ethanol 200 proof</td><td>MDS</td><td>2292</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Fine tweezers</td><td>Fine Science Tools</td><td>11251-20</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Gel comb</td><td>VWR</td><td>27372-482</td><td>4.2 mm width, 1.5 mm thick</td></tr><tr><td>Glass bottom dishes</td><td></td><td></td><td>Custom made by drilling a 16 - 18 mm hole in the center of a 35 mm tissue culture dish bottom and placing a 22 mm round #1 coverslip in the hole and sealing with a thin layer of Norland Optical Adhesive 68 cured by UV light.</td></tr><tr><td>Glycerol</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>G33-4</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>High melt agarose</td><td>Denville Scientific, Inc.</td><td>CA3510-6</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Hydrogen peroxide</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>H325</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Laser scanning confocal microscope</td><td>Olympus</td><td>with FV-1000 system</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Low melt agarose</td><td>Fisher</td><td>BP165-25</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Magnetic stand</td><td>Tritech (Narishige)</td><td>GJ-1</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Microinjection system</td><td>Parker</td><td>Picospritzer III</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Microloader pipet tips</td><td>Eppendorf</td><td>930001007</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Micromanipulator</td><td>Tritech (Narishige)</td><td>M-152</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Micropipette puller</td><td>Sutter Instrument Company</td><td>Flaming/Brown P-97</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Nanodrop spectrophotmeter</td><td>Thermo Scientific</td><td>ND-1000</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>N-Phenylthiourea (PTU)</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>P7629</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Paraformaldheyde</td><td>Electron Microscopy Sciences</td><td>15710</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Petri dishes</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>FB0875712</td><td>100 x 15 mm</td></tr><tr><td>Phenol</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>P-4557</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Phenol Red</td><td>Ricca Chemoical Company</td><td>572516</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Phosphate buffered saline</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>BP665-1</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Potassium hydroxide</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>P-6310</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Pronase</td><td>Roche</td><td>165921</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Protease peptone</td><td>Fluka Biochemika</td><td>29185</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Small cell culture dish</td><td>Corning Incorporated</td><td>430165</td><td>35 x 10 mm</td></tr><tr><td>Sudan Black</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>S2380</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Thin wall glass capillary injection needles</td><td>World Precision Instruments, Inc.</td><td>TW100-3</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Todd Hewitt</td><td>Sigma Aldrich/Fluka Analytical</td><td>T1438</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tricaine (ethyl 3-aminobenzoate)</td><td>Argent Chemical Laboratory/Finquel</td><td>C-FINQ-UE-100G</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Triton X-100</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>BP151-500</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tween 20</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>BP337-500</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Yeast extract</td><td>Fluka Biochemika</td><td>92144</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

non-invasive imaging of the innate immune response in a zebrafish larval model of streptococcus iniae infection

Non-invasive Imaging of the Innate Immune Response in a Zebrafish Larval Model of Streptococcus iniae Infection

The aquatic pathogen, Streptococcus iniae, is responsible for over 100 million dollars in annual losses for the aquaculture industry and is capable of causing systemic disease in both fish and humans. A better understanding of S. iniae disease pathogenesis requires an appropriate model system. The genetic tractability and the optical transparency of the early developmental stages of zebrafish allow for the generation and non-invasive imaging of transgenic lines with fluorescently tagged immune cells. The adaptive immune system is not fully functional until several weeks post fertilization, but zebrafish larvae have a conserved vertebrate innate immune system with both neutrophils and macrophages. Thus, the generation of a larval infection model allows the study of the specific contribution of innate immunity in controlling S. iniae infection.
The site of microinjection will determine whether an infection is systemic or initially localized. Here, we present our protocols for otic vesicle injection of zebrafish aged 2-3 days post fertilization as well as our techniques for fluorescent confocal imaging of infection. A localized infection site allows observation of initial microbe invasion, recruitment of host cells and dissemination of infection. Our findings using the zebrafish larval model of S. iniae infection indicate that zebrafish can be used to examine the differing contributions of host neutrophils and macrophages in localized bacterial infections. In addition, we describe how photolabeling of immune cells can be used to track individual host cell fate during the course of infection.

Microinjection of S. iniae into the otic vesicle (Figure 1 and Figure 2) results in an initially localized host response. When injected correctly, the bacteria should only be seen in the otic vesicle and not in the surrounding tissue or blood. This can be visualized during microinjection using phenol red dye (Figure 1A). Alternatively, if labeled bacteria are injected, a quick scan of infected larvae immediately post injection can confirm the bacteria are only i...

Here, we present a protocol for the generation and imaging of a localized bacterial infection in the zebrafish otic vesicle.

The aquatic pathogen, Streptococcus iniae, is responsible for over 100 million dollars in annual losses for the aquaculture industry and is capable of ...

The overall goal of this procedure is to micro inject zebrafish larva with a bacterial pathogen streptococcus IEA for live non-invasive imaging of the host immune response. This is accomplished by first loading the microinjection needle with a bacterial suspension and lining up anesthetized zebrafish larvae on the agarose injection mold. Next, the bacterial suspension is micro injected into the otic vesicle of the larvae.Then the injected larva are mounted in low melt agarose. Gus finally host immune cells are photo labeled for easy tracking and the infection is imaged using a confocal microscope. Ultimately micro injection of streptococcus IEA into the otic vesicle and the subsequent photo labeling and confocal microscopy are used to study the host immune response of zebrafish larvae.The main advantage of this technique over existing methods like coddle vein injection, is that otic vesicle injection generates a localized bacterial infection to allow non-invasive imaging of host pathogen interactions in the transparent zebrafish larva. To begin prepare a 1.5 to 2%high melt aro solution in E three medium and microwave until the solution is clear. Once cooled, pour some of the aros into a Petri dish, adding just enough to cover the bottom of the dish and swirl.Once the aros has solidified, place a rinsed and dried gel comb on top so that the solid end is just resting on the top of the Petri dish and the notched end is touching the aros. Ensure that the comb is as horizontal as possible, creating a 30 degree angle with respect to the bottom aros layer. Pour an additional small amount of aros at the interface between the comb and bottom aros layer so that the fresh aros layer covers the wells of the comb.Allow it to cool completely before removing the comb. Then using a pipette tip, remove any overhanging pieces of aros from the wells. Pour E three medium on top of the injection mold and store at four degrees Celsius.After preparing the SNEA inoculum and zebrafish larvae for injections according to the text protocol, turn on the micro injector and set the time range to milliseconds. Open the valve on the carbon dioxide tank to let gas into the line. The pressure of the micro injector should read approximately 20 PSI vortex the prepared SNEA culture in phenol red and PBS and use a micro loader tip to load two to three microliters of the culture into a pulled capillary injection needle mount the loaded needle on a micro manipulator connected to a magnetic stand and position it under a stereo microscope so that the needle is at approximately a 45 to 65 degree angle with respect to the base of the microscope.First break off the tip of the needle using a pair of fine tweezers, press the foot pedal of the micro injector to dispense a drop of the inoculum onto the tip of the needle. Use the scale bar in the ocular lens of the microscope to measure the diameter of the drop. The diameter of the drop should be approximately 0.10 millimeter, which is about one nanoliter in volume.To adjust the drop size, adjust the duration setting on the micro injector or use fine tweezers to clip off more of the needle tip. The injection time should be between 20 and 35 milliseconds to avoid too much tissue damage. Next, using a plastic transfer pipette transfer one fish per well into each of the 12 wells of the injection mold.Then with a glass rod, hair loop, or plastic tip, gently position the larvae so that the heads are pointed towards the back of the microscope and the yolk sacks are against the left side of the well. Point the left ear of the larvae up towards the ceiling. When the larvae are ready for injection, use the knobs on the micro manipulator to line up the loaded needle with the otic vesicle so that both are in the same field of view.With the needle tip pierce the outer epithelial layer of the otic vesicle so that the tip is just inside the vesicle. Now using a low enough pressure so as not to rupture the cavity, press the foot pedal to inject one nanoliter of the desired dose of SNEA. If the injection is successful, the otic vesicle, but not the surrounding tissue should fill with a phenol red inoculum.Carefully retract the needle out of the larvae and under five x magnification, move the injection plate by hand so that the larvae is in view. If injecting fluorescently labeled bacteria under a fluorescent microscope, visually scan the injected larvae and keep just those where deposition of bacteria has occurred only inside the otic vesicle to ensure the injection volume remains the same over the course of the experiment. After injecting every 48th embryo, inject a drop of bacterial suspension into a 1.7 milliliter centrifuge tube containing 100 microliters of sterile PBS.Then plate the 100 microliters on THY plus P auger plates, and incubate at 37 degrees Celsius overnight. To determine the CFU in the injection volume, when an entire group of 12 larvae on the injection ramp has been injected, carefully use a plastic transfer pipette to remove the larvae from the wells and place them into a new Petri dish. Remove the trica solution and replace with approximately two milliliters of fresh E three medium to allow the larvae to recover.Incubate the embryos according to the text protocol. After preparing aros with trica, according to the text protocol on the stage of the stereo microscope, use a transfer pipette to place four to five anesthetized larvae in a glass bottom dish. Remove the trica and aro solution from the 55 degree Celsius water bath and let it cool at room temperature for one to two minutes.In the meantime, remove as much liquid from the anesthetized larvae as possible. Next, pour the cooled agros into the dish until about half of the surface is covered. Then swirl the dish to spread the aros.Pick up larvae that have floated to the sides of the dish and pipette them back into the center. Then under the stereo microscope, use a long pipette tip to gently position the larvae as desired for imaging. The otic vesicle position the larvae so that the right otic vesicle is facing up and the left otic vesicle is flat against the bottom of the dish.Let the aros cool for about 10 minutes before moving the dish. Then gently pipette some trica and E three solution on top of the aros layer to keep it moist. To visualize the samples, use a Zack scan With the 488 nanometer and 543 nanometer lasers.Use continuous line scanning to adjust the laser power and detector gain. Verify that there is no accidentally photo converted red fluorescence on the image acquisition control window. Under stimulus setting, select the use scanner tool and choose main, select the 405 nanometer laser and set it to 70%power.Then using the circle option, define the region of interest in the odic vesicle under the stimulus start setting select activation in series with a pre activation of one frame and an activation time of 60, 000 milliseconds on the acquisition setting window. Under the time scan heading, choose two intervals of one minute each, one for pre and one for post photo conversion. Start the time-lapse series to initiate photo conversion of the defined region of interest.Finally, scan the sample using a Zack and the 488 and 543 nanometer lasers. To visualize the photo converted red fluorescence, as well as any remaining green fluorescence microinjection of SNEA in phenol red into the otic vesicle results in an initially localized host response that when injected correctly should only be seen in the otic vesicle and not in the surrounding tissue or blood. Alternatively, if labeled bacteria are injected, a quick scan of infected larvae immediately post-injection can confirm the bacteria are only in the otic scle and not the surrounding tissue.Microinjection sites of initially localized infection are useful for studying leukocyte chemotaxis as shown here. Leukocyte recruitment can be quantified by either Sudan, black staining of neutrophil granules or formaldehyde fixation of fluorescent transgenic lines using transgenic zebrafish lines expressing the green fluorescent protein. Dendra two, specifically in macrophages or neutrophils revealed that injection of NEA into the otic vesicle triggered recruitment of neutrophils and macrophages and phagocytosis of bacteria within 60 minutes post-infection.In this figure, DRA two labeled macrophages that were recruited to the otic vesicle at five hours post-infection were photo converted and then tracked over the following 24 hours. Although some photo converted cells remain in the otic vesicle or head region, some were also found disseminated throughout the body of the larvae as seen here. After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to micro inject streptococcus n EEA into the otic vesicle of zebrafish aged three days post fertilization.This includes one lining up anesthetized larvae on the injection mold and loading the needle with the bacterial inoculum. Two micro injecting bacteria into the otic vesicle. Three, mounting infected larvae in low melt aeros, and four, using a confocal microscope to photo label host leukocytes and image leukocyte pathogen interactions in vivo.

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Research

JoVE Journal

Immunology and Infection

Transparent zebrafish embryos have proved useful model hosts to visualize and functionally study interactions between innate immune cells and intracellular bacterial pathogens, such as Salmonella typhimurium and Mycobacterium marinum. Micro-injection of bacteria and multi-color fluorescence imaging are essential techniques involved in the application of zebrafish embryo infection models.

Infection of Zebrafish Embryos with Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens

The rapid development, small size and transparency of zebrafish are tremendous advantages for the study of innate immune control of infection1-4. Here we demonstrate techniques for infecting zebrafish larvae using the fungal pathogen Candida albicans by microinjection, methodology recently used to implicate phagocyte NADPH oxidase activity in control of fungal dimorphism5.

Non-invasive Imaging of Disseminated Candidiasis in Zebrafish Larvae

Source: Zhang, X., et al. A Zebrafish Embryo Model for In Vivo Visualization and Intravital Analysis of Biomaterial-associated Staphylococcus aureus Infection. J. Vis. Exp. (2019)This video demonstrates fluorescence imaging of zebrafish embryos injected with Staphylococcus aureus, enabling quantification of infection progression and bacterial distribution to assess the impact of biomaterial microspheres on host-pathogen interactions in vivo.

 Fluorescence Imaging of Biomaterial-Associated Bacterial Infection in Zebrafish Embryos

Source: Zhang, X. et. al., A Zebrafish Embryo Model for In Vivo Visualization and Intravital Analysis of Biomaterial-associated Staphylococcus aureus Infection. J. Vis. Exp. (2019)This video demonstrates a zebrafish embryo model for studying infections linked to implanted biomaterials. Injecting Staphylococcus aureus with polystyrene microspheres enhances bacterial survival, confirming the infection-promoting role of implanted materials.

In Vivo Analysis of Implant-Associated Bacterial Infections Using Zebrafish Embryos

This video demonstrates the tracking of leukocyte recruitment using transgenic zebrafish larvae expressing photoconvertible green fluorescent protein. Pre-injecting red fluorescent dye-labeled bacteria into the otic vesicle and inducing photoconversion enables observation of leukocytes' migration, phagocytosis, and dispersal throughout the body, providing valuable insights into immune response dynamics.

Photoconversion-Based Leukocyte Tracking in Bacterial-Infected Transgenic Zebrafish

The video demonstrates a zebrafish wounding and entrapment device technique for observing fluorescently labeled fungal pathogen infection in zebrafish larvae. Initial infection attracts macrophages, and as infection persists, neutrophil recruitment progresses at the injection site.

A zWEDGI Technique to Visualize Fungal Pathogen-Infected Zebrafish Larvae

The innate immune response protects organisms against pathogen infection. A critical component of the innate immune response, the phagocyte respiratory burst, generates reactive oxygen species that kill invading microorganisms. We describe a respiratory burst assay that quantifies reactive oxygen species produced when the innate immune response is chemically induced.

Quantification of the Respiratory Burst Response as an Indicator of Innate Immune Health in Zebrafish

Studying the earliest events of preneoplastic cell progression and innate immune cell interaction is pivotal to understand and treat cancer. Here we describe a method to conditionally induce epithelial cell transformations and the subsequent live imaging of innate immune cell interaction with HRASG12V expressing skin cells in zebrafish larvae.

Live Imaging of Innate Immune and Preneoplastic Cell Interactions Using an Inducible Gal4/UAS Expression System in Larval Zebrafish Skin

Optically transparent zebrafish embryos are widely used to study and visualize in real time the interactions between pathogenic microorganisms and the innate immune cells. Micro-injection of Mycobacterium abscessus, combined with fluorescence imaging, is used to scrutinize essential pathogenic features such as cord formation in zebrafish embryos.

Deciphering and Imaging Pathogenesis and Cording of Mycobacterium abscessus in Zebrafish Embryos

Systemic and localized zebrafish infection models for human influenza A virus are demonstrated. Using a systemic infection model, zebrafish can be used to screen antiviral drugs. Using a localized infection model, zebrafish can be used to characterize host immune cell responses.

Using Zebrafish Models of Human Influenza A Virus Infections to Screen Antiviral Drugs and Characterize Host Immune Cell Responses

The present study describes a zebrafish embryo model for in vivo visualization and intravital analysis of biomaterial-associated infection over time based on fluorescence microscopy. This model is a promising system complementing mammalian animal models such as mouse models for studying biomaterial-associated infections in vivo.

A Zebrafish Embryo Model for In Vivo Visualization and Intravital Analysis of Biomaterial-associated Staphylococcus aureus Infection

Learn microinjection of zebrafish larvae with Streptococcus iniae for live imaging of innate immune responses. This protocol enables non-invasive visualization of host-pathogen interactions using confocal microscopy and photo labeling techniques.

Non-invasive Imaging of the Innate Immune Response in a Zebrafish Larval Model of Streptococcus iniae Infection

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