title: Development and origins of zebrafish ocular vasculature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The developing eye receives blood supply from two vascular systems, the intraocular hyaloid system and the superficial choroidal vessels. In zebrafish, a highly stereotypic and simple set of vessels develops on the surface of the eye prior to development of choroidal vessels. The origins and formation of this so-called superficial system have not been described.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We have analyzed the development of superficial vessels by time-lapse imaging and identified their origins by photoconversion experiments in kdrl:Kaede transgenic embryos. We show that the entire superficial system is derived from a venous origin, and surprisingly, we find that the hyaloid system has, in addition to its previously described arterial origin, a venous origin for specific vessels. Despite arising solely from a vein, one of the vessels in the superficial system, the nasal radial vessel (NRV), appears to acquire an arterial identity while growing over the nasal aspect of the eye and this happens in a blood flow-independent manner.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results provide a thorough analysis of the early development and origins of zebrafish ocular vessels and establish the superficial vasculature as a model for studying vascular patterning in the context of the developing eye.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Neurobiology, Institute for Medical Research - Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. rivka2000@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rivka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaufman
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Neurobiology, Institute for Medical Research - Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. omri87@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Omri
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Neurobiology, Institute for Medical Research - Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. meyravsabban@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Meyrav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sebbagh
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Neurobiology, Institute for Medical Research - Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. revital.belayev@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Revital
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ravid
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. liron.gibbs@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: Liron
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gibbs-Bar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. karina.yaniv@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yaniv
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Neurobiology, Institute for Medical Research - Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. adi.inbal@ekmd.huji.ac.il.|Department of Medical Neurobiology, Hebrew University Medical School, Ein-Kerem, Jerusalem, 9112002, Israel. adi.inbal@ekmd.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Adi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inbal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000196:embryology*; D005123:Eye / Q000098:blood supply*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology*