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An anti‐bystin antibody labels hypertrophic astrocytes in zebrafish following optic nerve injury: possible marker for reactivity
Author(s) -
Neve Luis Daniel,
Savage Alissa A,
Koke Joseph R,
Garcia Dana M
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.lb524
Subject(s) - zebrafish , biology , colocalization , astrocyte , microbiology and biotechnology , neurite , optic nerve , neuroscience , pathology , central nervous system , medicine , gene , genetics , in vitro
Following nerve injury, teleost fish are capable of initiating robust signaling cascades leading to the repair of damaged tissue and a functional recovery of nerves: a phenomenon absent in amniotes. Microarray analysis of an injured zebrafish optic nerve revealed 120 genes significantly differentially expressed at one or more time points. Atf3, a member of the cAMP‐response element binding protein family, was among these genes and has been previously characterized to become upregulated in response to various stressors in nervous tissue. In the present study, we have been able to employ immunohistochemical techniques and eGFP reporter constructs to show ATF3 labeling in the bundled fiber layer and retinal ganglion cells; however, the lack of a marker for reactive astrocytes has made analyzing ATF3 expression in the glial cells of injured nerves difficult. Using antibodies against ATF3 and the protein bystin, an essential component of astrocyte development and a novel marker for the astrocyte transition from a quiescent to a reactive state in mammals, we show colocalization of bystin like protein and ATF3 in cells morphologically suggestive of hypertrophic astrocytes. These results suggest that ATF3 is expressed by reactive astrocytes in response to injury. Reactive astrocytes are the major cellular components of the glial scar in mammals, the formation of which prevents sprouting neurites from reaching their synaptic targets. The finding that the anti‐bystin antibody labels cells which morphologically appear to be reactive astroctyes supports using zebrafish as a model organism with relevance to human health.