title: The influence of the zebrafish genetic background on Parkinson's disease-related aspects.
abstract: Zebrafish are increasingly used to study neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD). In rodents, the influence of the genetic background on important experimental parameters in PD research such as susceptibility to toxin exposure or motor behavior is well established. In contrast, little is known about the impact of the genetic background in commonly used zebrafish wild-type strains on these important experimental parameters. We determined the effect of the genetic background in five commonly used zebrafish wild-type strains on crucial, PD-related aspects, in particular the number of ascending dopaminergic neurons, their susceptibility to PD-related neurotoxins, and the expression levels of five genes involved in oxidative stress defense, protein degradation, cell death, and apoptosis. We also investigated whether the susceptibility to morpholino-mediated knockdown of the PD gene DJ-1 may have a varying effect on neuronal cell loss depending on the genetic background. Finally, we determined the influence of the genetic background on spontaneous motor behavior. There was remarkably little variation between the different wild-type strains for most parameters investigated. However, the susceptibility to the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium differed between the five investigated strains and so did their spontaneous motor behavior.
authors: MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
authors: Sandrine
authors: S
authors: Bretaud
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: MacRaild
authors: Phillip W
authors: PW
authors: Ingham
authors: Oliver
authors: O
authors: Bandmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D060172:Morpholinos / Q000235:genetics; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D060172:Morpholinos; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009498:Neurotoxins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C515379:park7 protein, zebrafish