Name: Rapid and Efficient Spatiotemporal Monitoring of Normal and Aberrant Cytosine Methylation within Intact Zebrafish Embryos (Video) | JoVE Journal
Uploaded: 2022-08-18T14:00:00.000+00:00
Duration: 7 min 16 s
Description: Learn a rapid, cost-efficient method for monitoring cytosine methylation in zebrafish embryos using automated imaging. This protocol enables researchers to study epigenetic alterations from environmental chemical exposure.

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5 minutes

Research support was provided by a UCR Graduate Division Fellowship to SAB, a NRSA T32 Training Program Fellowship (T32ES018827) to SAB, and a National Institutes of Health grant (R01ES027576) and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Project (1009609) to DCV.

Adult breeders were handled and treated in accordance with an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)-approved animal use protocol (#20180063) at the University of California, Riverside.
1. Zebrafish embryo collection and chemical exposure
<ol>
	<li>Add in-tank breeding traps to tanks containing sexually mature and reproductively viable adult male and female zebrafish. Add at least three traps per 6 L tank at least 12 h prior to collection at ~9:00 AM, which is the approximate time of fertilization and spawning of eggs within tanks.</li>
	<li>Prepare a fresh exposure solution on the morning of collection. The exposure solution is prepared using a 5 mL pipette and adding 5.0 mL of particulate-free system water to a 60 mm glass Petri dish.</li>
	<li>Then, use a 10 &#181;L glass microcapillary pipette to transfer 10 &#181;L of vehicle (dimethyl sulfoxide, or DMSO) or chemical stock solution to system water in the glass dish.</li>
	<li>Swirl the glass Petri dish to ensure the stock solution dissipates. Add another 5.0 mL of system water to the glass Petri dish. Swirl the glass Petri dish to homogenize the exposure solution.</li>
	<li>Repeat for each treatment group in replicates of four to yield four replicates per treatment.</li>
	<li>After exposure solutions have been prepared, cap the glass dishes with glass lids to minimize evaporation.</li>
	<li>While removing the breeding traps from each tank, carefully allow the water within each trap to drain out into the tank before removing from the tanks. Make sure the traps stay right-side up.</li>
	<li>Transfer the breeding traps to the lab sink and rinse them using a squirt bottle filled with reverse osmosis (RO) water into a fish net previously soaked in 10% bleach and rinsed with water. Rinse the embryos until all debris is cleared and only clean embryos remain.</li>
	<li>Transfer the embryos from the fish net using an RO water-filled squirt bottle into a 100 mm plastic Petri dish. Randomly sort 50 live embryos at 0.75 h post-fertilization (hpf) and remove excess RO water.</li>
	<li>Using a microspatula, place sorted embryos into the treatment solution. All embryos must be within vehicle or treatment solution no earlier than 9:45 AM. Swirl the glass dishes to ensure the embryos are evenly coated within the treatment solution.</li>
	<li>After four replicate dishes (N = 50 per replicate) have been set up for each treatment group, place the glass lid on top of the exposure dishes and transfer all dishes into a temperature-controlled incubator set at 28 &#176;C until 2 hpf, 4 hpf, 6hpf, 8 hpf, or 10 hpf.</li>
	<li>Prepare fresh 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) at least 4 h prior to exposure termination and store at 4 &#176;C.
	<ol>
		<li>Turn on the hotplate to 115 &#176;C, make 20 mL of 1x phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (2 mL of 10x PBS + 18 mL of RO water) in a 50 mL centrifuge tube, and weight out 800 mg of paraformaldehyde.</li>
		<li>Within a chemical fume hood, transfer 1x PBS solution to a 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask, add 800 mg of paraformaldehyde, and then add 2 &#181;L of 10 N NaOH. Place a thermometer inside the flask, place the flask on the hot plate, and watch the temperature while stirring.</li>
		<li>When the temperature reaches 62-65 &#176;Cremove the 4% PFA from the hot plate and allow it to cool to room temperature (RT). Store the 4% PFA at 4 &#176;C.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Once the exposure duration has ended, remove the embryos from the incubator and transfer all living embryos to a 1.5 mL microcentrifuge tube. Aspirate residual exposure solution using a 1 mL pipette. Do not aspirate any embryos.</li>
	<li>Add 500 &#181;L of chilled 4% PFA to a 1.5 mL microcentrifuge tube and mix the embryos in 4% PFA by inverting several times. Allow the embryos to fix in 4% PFA overnight. 
	&#8203;NOTE: It is not recommended to allow embryos to stay in PFA for longer than 12 h.</li>
</ol>
2. Dechorionation of embryos
<ol>
	<li>The following day, aspirate off the 4% PFA, resuspend the embryos in 1x PBS, and gently pipette up and down for 30 s. If needed, stop the protocol at this step and store the embryos in 1x PBS at 4 &#176;C for up to 48 h.</li>
	<li>Using a plastic transfer pipette, carefully transfer fixed embryos to a RO water-filled glass dish and gently swirl for 30 s. Repeat this step one more time.</li>
	<li>Use syringe needles under 5.0x magnification using a standard stereomicroscope to manually dechorionate all embryos. Do this by using the needle tip to puncture the chorion and gently peel it away from the yolk and cell mass4.</li>
	<li>Once the embryos have been dechorionated, use a glass microcapillary pipette to transfer up to 25 intact embryos into one immunochemistry (IHC) basket and place the IHC basket into a 96-well plate. Use a 1 mL pipette to aspirate the RO water from each well.</li>
</ol>
3. Immunohistochemistry using 5-mC-specific antibody
<ol>
	<li>Resuspend the embryos in 500 &#181;L of blocking buffer (1x PBST + 2% sheep serum + 2 mg/mL bovine serum albumin) per well, and wrap the plate with parafilm and aluminum foil to protect them from light. Incubate at 4 &#176;C for 4 h on an orbital shaker (100 rpm).</li>
	<li>Remove the parafilm wrap and aluminum and use a 1 mL pipette to aspirate the blocking buffer from each well. Replace it with 500 &#181;L of a 1:100 dilution of monoclonal mouse anti-5-mC antibody in the blocking buffer. Incubate all embryos with primary antibodies except for a subset of vehicle control embryos which will be incubated with the blocking buffer to account for background noise. Be careful not to disrupt the integrity of embryos, nor to aspirate embryos during this step.</li>
	<li>Rewrap the plate in parafilm and aluminum foil and allow the plate to incubate at 4 &#176;C overnight on an orbital shaker (100 rpm).</li>
	<li>The following day, remove the primary antibody solution from each well and replace it with 1x PBS + 0.1% Tween-20 (1x PBST). Wash each well three times with 1x PBST for 15 min per wash on an orbital shaker (100 rpm).</li>
	<li>Replace 1x PBST with a 1:500 dilution of goat anti-mouse IgG antibody in blocking buffer and incubate all embryos with the secondary antibody. Let the plate incubate at 4 &#176;C overnight on an orbital shaker (100 rpm).</li>
	<li>The following day, remove the secondary antibody and wash the residual solution three times with 1x PBST for 15 min per wash on an orbital shaker (100 rpm). 
	NOTE: The protocol can be stopped here for up to 48 h if the IHC baskets are stored in clean wells filled with 1x PBS.</li>
	<li>Use a 1 mL pipette to aspirate 1x PBST from each well and place the IHC basket into a glass Petri dish filled with RO water. Under a standard stereomicroscope, randomly sort intact embryos into a 96-well plate, resulting in one embryo per well.</li>
	<li>Using a 1 mL pipette, remove all RO water from individual wells and replace it with 200 &#181;L of 1x PBS. Centrifuge the plate for 3 min at 1 x g.</li>
</ol>
4. Automated imaging of embryos within 96-well plates
<ol>
	<li>Image the embryos with a 2x objective under transmitted light and FITC using a high-content screening system (Table of Materials). 
	NOTE: A fluorescent image of each embryo was captured automatically using the above-mentioned magnification and a FITC filter19.
	<ol>
		<li>Select Autofocus to ensure the focus of the camera is on the bottom of the plate and offset by the bottom thickness.</li>
		<li>Select a FITC wavelength with an exposure duration of 100 ms, and set the Autofocus to laser with a Z-offset. Observe and confirm proper image acquisition in several wells prior to commencing plate acquisition. 
		NOTE: The instrument automatically acquires images from all selected wells containing embryos. A 96-well plate required approximately 30 min for image acquisition and data storage. For the duration of the acquisition period, the internal temperature within the imaging system was maintained at RT.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Following image acquisition, carry out data analysis using the high-content screening system and a custom automated image analysis procedure. Select each embryo on the 96-well plate to be analyzed for total area and integrated intensity of fluorescence. 
	NOTE: The analysis included providing images that contained overlays of data points from the analysis.</li>
	<li>Then, tabulate the data points and export them from the high-content screening system by going under Measure and selecting Open Data Log to a spreadsheet. The plate acquisition and data analysis portions are depicted in Figure 1.</li>
</ol>
5.&#160;Data analysis
<ol>
	<li>Upload the exported spreadsheet into a computer program where the deployer (dplyr) package is used to sort, summate data for each well, and filter by well number. The writexl package is then used to export the summated data into a spreadsheet. The 5mC program code is shown in Supplemental File 1.</li>
</ol>

<ol><li>Zhang, H. -Y., Xiong, J., Qi, B. -L., Feng, Y. -Q., Yuan, B. -F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((The+existence+of+5-hydroxymethylcytosine+and+5-formylcytosine+in+both+DNA+and+RNA+in+mammals%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Chemical+Communications%22%5BJournal%5D)">The existence of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine and 5-formylcytosine in both DNA and RNA in mammals.</a> Chemical Communications. 52 (4), 737-740 (2016).</li>
<li>Huang, W., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Formation+and+determination+of+the+oxidation+products+of+5-methylcytosine+in+RNA%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Chemical+Science%22%5BJournal%5D)">Formation and determination of the oxidation products of 5-methylcytosine in RNA.</a> Chemical Science. 7 (8), 5495-5502 (2016).</li>
<li>Avila-Barnard, S., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Tris%281%2C3-dichloro-2-propyl%29+phosphate+disrupts+the+trajectory+of+cytosine+methylation+within+developing+zebrafish+embryos%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Environmental+Research%22%5BJournal%5D)">Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate disrupts the trajectory of cytosine methylation within developing zebrafish embryos.</a> Environmental Research. 211, 113078(2022).</li>
<li>Dasgupta, S., Cheng, V., Volz, D. C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Utilizing+zebrafish+embryos+to+reveal+disruptions+in+dorsoventral+patterning%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Current+Protocols%22%5BJournal%5D)">Utilizing zebrafish embryos to reveal disruptions in dorsoventral patterning.</a> Current Protocols. 1 (6), 179(2021).</li>
<li>Vliet, S. M. F., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Maternal-to-zygotic+transition+as+a+potential+target+for+niclosamide+during+early+embryogenesis%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Toxicology+and+Applied+Pharmacology%22%5BJournal%5D)">Maternal-to-zygotic transition as a potential target for niclosamide during early embryogenesis.</a> Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 380, 114699(2019).</li>
<li>Kupsco, A., Dasgupta, S., Nguyen, C., Volz, D. C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Dynamic+alterations+in+DNA+methylation+precede+Tris%281%2C3-dichloro-2-propyl%29phosphate-induced+delays+in+zebrafish+epiboly%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Environmental+Science+%26+Technology+Letters%22%5BJournal%5D)">Dynamic alterations in DNA methylation precede Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate-induced delays in zebrafish epiboly.</a> Environmental Science & Technology Letters. 4 (9), 367-373 (2017).</li>
<li>Dasgupta, S., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Complex+interplay+among+nuclear+receptor+ligands%2C+cytosine+methylation%2C+and+the+metabolome+in+driving+tris%281%2C3-dichloro-2-propyl%29phosphate-induced+epiboly+defects+in+zebrafish%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Environmental+Science+%26+Technology%22%5BJournal%5D)">Complex interplay among nuclear receptor ligands, cytosine methylation, and the metabolome in driving tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate-induced epiboly defects in zebrafish.</a> Environmental Science & Technology. 53 (17), 10497-10505 (2019).</li>
<li>McGee, S. P., Cooper, E. M., Stapleton, H. M., Volz, D. C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Early+zebrafish+embryogenesis+is+susceptible+to+developmental+TDCPP+exposure%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Environmental+Health+Perspectives%22%5BJournal%5D)">Early zebrafish embryogenesis is susceptible to developmental TDCPP exposure.</a> Environmental Health Perspectives. 120 (11), 1585-1591 (2012).</li>
<li>Geiman, T. M., Muegge, K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((DNA+methylation+in+early+development%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Molecular+Reproduction+and+Development%22%5BJournal%5D)">DNA methylation in early development.</a> Molecular Reproduction and Development. 77 (2), 105-113 (2010).</li>
<li>Wossidlo, M., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((5-Hydroxymethylcytosine+in+the+mammalian+zygote+is+linked+with+epigenetic+reprogramming%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Nature+Communications%22%5BJournal%5D)">5-Hydroxymethylcytosine in the mammalian zygote is linked with epigenetic reprogramming.</a> Nature Communications. 2 (1), 1-8 (2011).</li>
<li>Rottach, A., Leonhardt, H., Spada, F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((DNA+methylation-mediated+epigenetic+control%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Journal+of+Cellular+Biochemistry%22%5BJournal%5D)">DNA methylation-mediated epigenetic control.</a> Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. 108 (1), 43-51 (2009).</li>
<li>Egger, G., Liang, G., Aparicio, A., Jones, P. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Epigenetics+in+human+disease+and+prospects+for+epigenetic+therapy%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Nature%22%5BJournal%5D)">Epigenetics in human disease and prospects for epigenetic therapy.</a> Nature. 429 (6990), 457-463 (2004).</li>
<li>Ooi, S. K. T., O'Donnell, A. H., Bestor, T. H. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Mammalian+cytosine+methylation+at+a+glance%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Journal+of+Cell+Science%22%5BJournal%5D)">Mammalian cytosine methylation at a glance.</a> Journal of Cell Science. 122 (16), 2787-2791 (2009).</li>
<li>Baylin, S. B., Jones, P. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((A+decade+of+exploring+the+cancer+epigenome-biological+and+translational+implications%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Nature+Reviews+Cancer%22%5BJournal%5D)">A decade of exploring the cancer epigenome-biological and translational implications.</a> Nature Reviews Cancer. 11 (10), 726-734 (2011).</li>
<li>Robertson, K. D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((DNA+methylation+and+chromatin-unraveling+the+tangled+web%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Oncogene%22%5BJournal%5D)">DNA methylation and chromatin-unraveling the tangled web.</a> Oncogene. 21 (35), 5361-5379 (2002).</li>
<li>Robertson, K. D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((DNA+methylation+and+human+disease%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Nature+Reviews+Genetics%22%5BJournal%5D)">DNA methylation and human disease.</a> Nature Reviews Genetics. 6 (8), 597-610 (2005).</li>
<li>Greenberg, M. V. C., Bourc'his, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((The+diverse+roles+of+DNA+methylation+in+mammalian+development+and+disease%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Nature+Reviews+Molecular+Cell+Biology%22%5BJournal%5D)">The diverse roles of DNA methylation in mammalian development and disease.</a> Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. 20 (10), 590-607 (2019).</li>
<li>Yuan, B. -F., Feng, Y. -Q. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Recent+advances+in+the+analysis+of+5-methylcytosine+and+its+oxidation+products%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Trends+in+Analytical+Chemistry%22%5BJournal%5D)">Recent advances in the analysis of 5-methylcytosine and its oxidation products.</a> Trends in Analytical Chemistry. 54, 24-35 (2014).</li>
<li>Lantz-McPeak, S., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Developmental+toxicity+assay+using+high+content+screening+of+zebrafish+embryos%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Journal+of+Applied+Toxicology%22%5BJournal%5D)">Developmental toxicity assay using high content screening of zebrafish embryos.</a> Journal of Applied Toxicology. 35 (3), 261-272 (2015).</li>
</ol>

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

During this protocol, there are a few steps that are critical. First, when dechorionating embryos, it is important to point the needle away from the tissue of the embryo/yolk sac/cell mass, as these portions of the developing embryo are very fragile and easy to puncture. Second, when transferring labeled embryos to individual wells, use a glass pipette to transfer embryos as they will adhere to a plastic pipette. Third, when performing whole-mount IHC, ensure that the plate is protected from light. Finally, after complet...

Enzymatic modifications drive active methylation and demethylation of cytosine into 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) and subsequent oxidation of 5-mC into 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, 5-formylcytosine, and 5-carboxylcytosine1,2. Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) is a widely used flame retardant in the United States that has been previously demonstrated to alter the trajectory of cytosine methylation following early embryonic exposure from 0.75 hours post-fertilization (hpf) through early gastrulation (6 hpf)3,4,5,6,7,8. Within vertebrates, 5-mC and its modified derivatives are critical for regulating early embryonic development9. Fertilization of an embryo triggers demethylation of parental DNA, followed by maternal mRNA degradation, zygotic genome activation, and remethylation of the zygotic genome9. Biologically relevant processes that utilize cytosine methylation include histone modification, recruitment of transcriptional machinery, RNA methylation, epigenetic reprogramming, and determination of chromatin structure10,11. Cytosine methylation is also conserved among vertebrate species, underscoring the importance of understanding and investigating how aberrant cytosine methylation may affect the trajectory of an organism&#39;s development11. Furthermore, in utero development is sensitive to maternal exposure and has the potential to cause adverse outcomes such as immediate phenotypic consequences, long-term effects on adult disease susceptibility, and transgenerational effects of inherited epigenetic marks12,13,14.
Long stretches of cytosine-guanine pairs, or CpG islands, have been the primary foci of investigators that aim to characterize the dynamics of cytosine methylation across the genome15,16,17. Bisulfite-based strategies such as whole-genome bisulfite sequencing, reduced representation bisulfite sequencing, and bisulfite amplicon sequencing represent the gold standard for interrogating cytosine methylation at base-pair resolution. However, sequencing-based approaches are cost-prohibitive and, as such, preclude the ability to monitor cytosine methylation across developmental stages, multiple concentrations per chemical, and replicate embryos per treatment. In addition, sequencing-based approaches do not provide information about spatial localization, which is critical for understanding potentially affected cell types and areas within a developing embryo. Similarly, global DNA methylation assays such as methylation-dependent restriction analysis, 5-mC enzyme-linked immunoassays (ELISAs), and 5-methyl-2&#39;-deoxycytidine (5-mC) liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) rely on cell or tissue homogenates and, as such, preclude the ability to monitor the localization and magnitude of cytosine methylation over space and time within intact specimens12,18.
Due to the ease of automated in vivo imaging, genetic manipulations, rapid ex utero development time, and husbandry during embryogenesis, zebrafish embryos continue to be widely used as physiologically intact models to uncover xenobiotic-mediated pathways that contribute to adverse outcomes during early embryonic development. Therefore, using commercially available antibodies specific to 5-mC, the protocol below describes a cost-effective strategy for rapid and efficient spatiotemporal monitoring of cytosine methylation within individual, intact zebrafish embryos by leveraging whole-mount immunohistochemistry (IHC), automated high-content imaging, and efficient data processing using programming language prior to statistical analysis.
To current knowledge, this method is the first to monitor 5-mC within intact zebrafish embryos. The method enables the detection of DNA methylation within the cell mass and also has the ability to detect cytosine methylation of yolk-localized maternal mRNAs during the maternal-to-zygotic transition. Overall, this method will be useful for the rapid identification of chemicals that have the potential to disrupt cytosine methylation in situ during epigenetic reprogramming.

<table><tbody><tr><td>1.5-mL microcentrifuge tubes</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>540225</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10-&amp;micro;L glass microcapillary pipette</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>211762B</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>100-mm plastic Petri dish</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>08757100D</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10x phosphate-buffered saline&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>BP399500</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1-mL pipette&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>13690032</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>250-mL Erlenmeyer flask</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>FB501250</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>5-mL pipette</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>13690033</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>60-mm glass petri dishes with lids</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>08747A</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>96-well plate</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>720089</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>AlexaFluor 488-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG antibody&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>A21121</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bovine serum albumin</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>BP67110</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>DMSO</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>BP2311</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Hotplate&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>1110016SH</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>In-tank breeding traps</td><td>Aquatic Habitats</td><td>N/A</td><td>This product is no longer available following acquisition of Aquatic Habitats by Pentair.&amp;nbsp; Investigators can use standard off-system breeding tanks available from multiple vendors.</td></tr><tr><td>ImageXpress Micro XLS Widefield High-Content Screening System</td><td>Molecular Devices</td><td>N/A</td><td>Any high-content screening system equipped with transmitted light and FITC filter will be suitable.</td></tr><tr><td>Immunochemistry (IHC) basket</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>Manufactured in-house using microcentrifuge tubes with conical portion removed and bottom fitted with mesh, sized for 24- or 48-well plates.</td></tr><tr><td>MetaXpress 6.0.3.1658&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Molecular Devices</td><td>N/A</td><td>Any software capable of quantifying total area and integrated intensity of fluorescence will be suitable.</td></tr><tr><td>Microspatula</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>2140115</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Monoclonal mouse anti-5-mC antibody</td><td>Millipore Sigma</td><td>MABE146</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>NaOH</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>BP359-500</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Orbital shaker&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>50998290</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Parafilm&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>1337412</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Paraformaldehyde&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>18612139</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Plastic transfer pipette</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>1368050</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rstudio</td><td>RStudio</td><td>N/A</td><td>RStudio is open-source software and can be downloaded at https://www.rstudio.com.</td></tr><tr><td>Sheep serum</td><td>Millipore Sigma</td><td>S3772-5ML</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Stereomicroscope</td><td>Leica</td><td>10450103</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Temperature-controlled incubator&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>PR505755L</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tween-20&amp;nbsp;</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>P7949-500ML</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

rapid and efficient spatiotemporal monitoring of normal and aberrant cytosine methylation within intact zebrafish embryos

Rapid and Efficient Spatiotemporal Monitoring of Normal and Aberrant Cytosine Methylation within Intact Zebrafish Embryos

Cytosine methylation is highly conserved across vertebrate species and, as a key driver of epigenetic programming and chromatin state, plays a critical role in early embryonic development. Enzymatic modifications drive active methylation and demethylation of cytosine into 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) and subsequent oxidation of 5-mC into 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, 5-formylcytosine, and 5-carboxylcytosine. Epigenetic reprogramming is a critical period during in utero development, and maternal exposure to chemicals has the potential to reprogram the epigenome within offspring. This can potentially cause adverse outcomes such as immediate phenotypic consequences, long-term effects on adult disease susceptibility, and transgenerational effects of inherited epigenetic marks. Although bisulfite-based sequencing enables investigators to interrogate cytosine methylation at base-pair resolution, sequencing-based approaches are cost-prohibitive and, as such, preclude the ability to monitor cytosine methylation across developmental stages, multiple concentrations per chemical, and replicate embryos per treatment. Due to the ease of automated in vivo imaging, genetic manipulations, rapid ex utero development time, and husbandry during embryogenesis, zebrafish embryos continue to be used as a physiologically intact model for uncovering xenobiotic-mediated pathways that contribute to adverse outcomes during early embryonic development. Therefore, using commercially available 5-mC-specific antibodies, we describe a cost-effective strategy for rapid and efficient spatiotemporal monitoring of cytosine methylation within individual, intact zebrafish embryos by leveraging whole-mount immunohistochemistry, automated high-content imaging, and efficient data processing using programming language prior to statistical analysis. To current knowledge, this method is the first to successfully detect and quantify 5-mC levels in situ within zebrafish embryos during early development. The method enables the detection of DNA methylation within the cell mass and also has the ability to detect cytosine methylation of yolk-localized maternal mRNAs during the maternal-to-zygotic transition. Overall, this method will be useful for the rapid identification of chemicals that have the potential to disrupt cytosine methylation in situ during epigenetic reprogramming.

The overall aim of this protocol is to determine whether a treatment affects the relative abundance of 5-mC by assessing the total area and relative intensity of fluorescence within fixed and labeled zebrafish embryos. After completing the protocol, a fluorescence stereomicroscope can be used to first determine whether the whole-mount IHC was successful. When labeled embryos are observed under a FITC or GFP filter, a positive result is indicated by a positive FITC signal within the embryo, whereas a negative result is in...

This paper describes a protocol for the rapid and efficient spatiotemporal monitoring of normal and aberrant cytosine methylation within intact zebrafish embryos.

Cytosine methylation is highly conserved across vertebrate species and, as a key driver of epigenetic programming and chromatin state, plays a critical ...

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JoVE Journal

Developmental Biology

Somitogenesis is a rhythmic developmental process that spatially patterns the body axis of vertebrate embryos. Previously, we developed transgenic zebrafish lines that use fluorescent reporters to observe the cyclic genes that drive this process. Here, we culture dispersed cells from these lines and image their oscillations over time in vitro.

Generation of Dispersed Presomitic Mesoderm Cell Cultures for Imaging of the Zebrafish Segmentation Clock in Single Cells

The zebrafish, a small tropical fish, has become a popular model for studying gene function during vertebrate development and disease. The temporal and spatial expression of target genes can be determined by in situ hybridization. Our improved protocol allows for the detection of low abundant transcripts with low non-specific background signal.

High Resolution Whole Mount In Situ Hybridization within Zebrafish Embryos to Study Gene Expression and Function

Protein levels in cells and tissues are often tightly regulated by the balance of protein production and clearance. Using Fluorescence Decay After Photoconversion (FDAP), the clearance kinetics of proteins can be experimentally measured in vivo.

Measuring Protein Stability in Living Zebrafish Embryos Using Fluorescence Decay After Photoconversion (FDAP)

Mitosis is critical to every living organism and defects often lead to cancer and developmental disorders. Using this imaging protocol and zebrafish as a model system, researchers can visualize mitosis in a live vertebrate organism and the multitude of defects that arise when mitotic processes are defective.

Observing Mitotic Division and Dynamics in a Live Zebrafish Embryo

Protocols described here allow for the study of the electrical properties of excitable cells in the most non-invasive physiological conditions by employing zebrafish embryos in an in vivo system together with a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based genetically encoded voltage indicator (GEVI) selectively expressed in the cell type of interest.

Biosensing Motor Neuron Membrane Potential in Live Zebrafish Embryos

A combination of the advanced optical techniques of laser scanning microscopy with long wavelength multi-photon fluorescence excitation was implemented to capture high-resolution, three-dimensional, real-time imaging of neural crest migration in Tg(sox10:EGFP) and Tg(foxd3:GFP) zebrafish embryos.

Multi-Photon Time Lapse Imaging to Visualize Development in Real-time: Visualization of Migrating Neural Crest Cells in Zebrafish Embryos

Zebrafish were recently used as an in vivo model system to study DNA replication timing during development. Here is detailed the protocols for using zebrafish embryos to profile replication timing. This protocol can be easily adapted to study replication timing in mutants, individual cell types, disease models, and other species.

Profiling DNA Replication Timing Using Zebrafish as an In Vivo Model System

We demonstrate a method that takes advantage of fast scanning confocal microscopy to perform live imaging of microglia cells in the developing zebrafish optic tectum, allowing for the analysis of the dynamics of these cells in vivo.

Live Imaging and Characterization of Microglia Dynamics in the Zebrafish Embryo

A sample preparation strategy for imaging early zebrafish embryos within an intact chorion using a light-sheet microscope is described. It analyzes the different orientations that embryos acquire within the chorion at the 70% epiboly and bud stages and details imaging strategies for obtaining cellular-scale resolution throughout the embryo using the light-sheet system.

Light Sheet Microscopy Imaging and Mounting Strategies for Early Zebrafish Embryos

RASopathies are multisystem genetic syndromes caused by RAS-MAPK pathway hyperactivation. Potentially pathogenic variants awaiting validation emerge continuously while poor preclinical evidence limits therapy. Here, we describe our in vivo protocol to test and cross-validate RASopathy-associated ERK activation levels and its pharmacological modulation during embryogenesis by live FRET imaging in Teen-reporter zebrafish.

An Efficient Protocol to Assess ERK Activity Modulation in Early Zebrafish Noonan Syndrome Models via Live FRET Microscopy and Immunofluorescence

This study establishes a sensitive immunofluorescence-based imaging method to quantify global DNA methylation in individual zebrafish embryonic hearts. This approach overcomes the challenge of limited tissue material and bypasses the need for bisulfite conversion.

Detection of Global DNA Methylation in the Hearts of Zebrafish Larvae

Learn a rapid, cost-efficient method for monitoring cytosine methylation in zebrafish embryos using automated imaging. This protocol enables researchers to study epigenetic alterations from environmental chemical exposure.

Rapid and Efficient Spatiotemporal Monitoring of Normal and Aberrant Cytosine Methylation within Intact Zebrafish Embryos

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