title: Transgenic zebrafish expressing green fluorescent protein in dopaminergic neurons of the ventral diencephalon.
abstract: We have generated a line of transgenic zebrafish, Tg(dat:EGFP), in which the green fluorescent protein (GFP) is expressed under the control of cis-regulatory elements of the dopamine transporter (dat) gene. In Tg(dat:EGFP) fish, dopamine (DA) neurons are labeled with GFP, including those in ventral diencephalon (vDC) clusters, amacrine cells in the retina, in the olfactory bulb, in the pretectum, and in the caudal hypothalamus. In the vDC, DA neurons of groups 2-6 are correctly labeled with GFP, based on colocalization analyses. MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) treatments induced a modest but significant loss of DA neurons in groups 2-6 of the vDC. This transgenic line will be useful for the study of DA neuron development and in models of DA neuron loss.
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Yanwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Godoy
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hatch
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Poitras
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ekker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000235:genetics; D004027:Diencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase