Abstract
Zebrafish are teleosts (bony fish), which share with mammals a common ancestor belonging to the phylum Osteichtyes, from which their endoskeletal systems have been inherited. Indeed, teleosts and mammals have numerous genetically conserved features in terms of skeletal elements, ossification mechanisms and bone matrix components in common. Yet, differences related to bone morphology and function need to be considered when investigating zebrafish in skeletal research. In this review, we focus on zebrafish skeletal architecture with emphasis on the morphology of the vertebral column and associated anatomical structures. We provide an overview on the different ossification types and osseous cells in zebrafish and describe bone matrix composition at the microscopic tissue level with a focus on assessing mineralization. Processes of bone formation strongly depend on loading also in zebrafish, as we elaborate here. Furthermore, we illustrate the high regenerative capacity of zebrafish bones and present some of the technological advantages of using zebrafish as a model. We highlight zebrafish axial and fin skeleton patterning mechanisms, metabolic bone disease such as after immunosuppressive glucocorticoid treatment, as well as osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and osteopetrosis research in zebrafish. We conclude with a view of why larval zebrafish xenografts are a powerful tool to study bone metastasis.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 436-458 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Journal of Bone and Mineral Research |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 23 Jan 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Transregio 67 (project 387653785 to FK) and the DFG SPP 2084 μBone (projects B2562/6‐1 and KN 1102/2‐1, to BB and FK, respectively). AK has been a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) fellow during this work. The work of FK is co‐financed with tax revenues based on the budget agreed by the Saxonian Landtag. Further funding of IAKF and BB was received from the Interdisciplinary Center for Interface Research (ICCIR) and the Forum Medical Technology Health Hamburg (FMTHH) on behalf of the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) and the University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf (UKE). CLH was supported by Versus Arthritis Senior Fellowship 21937, and LMM by the Wellcome Trust Dynamic Molecular Cell Biology doctoral training program. Our thanks go to Henriette Knopf for proofreading the manuscript and to Heiner Grandel for valuable comments. Open Access funding enabled and organized by ProjektDEAL.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Transregio 67 (project 387653785 to FK) and the DFG SPP 2084 ?Bone (projects B2562/6-1 and KN 1102/2-1, to BB and FK, respectively). AK has been a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) fellow during this work. The work of FK is co-financed with tax revenues based on the budget agreed by the Saxonian Landtag. Further funding of IAKF and BB was received from the Interdisciplinary Center for Interface Research (ICCIR) and the Forum Medical Technology Health Hamburg (FMTHH) on behalf of the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). CLH was supported by Versus Arthritis Senior Fellowship 21937, and LMM by the Wellcome Trust Dynamic Molecular Cell Biology doctoral training program. Our thanks go to Henriette Knopf for proofreading the manuscript and to Heiner Grandel for valuable comments. Open Access funding enabled and organized by ProjektDEAL. Authors? roles: all authors wrote and revised the manuscript. Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR)
Keywords
- zebrafish
- skeleton
- regeneration
- metasis
- glucocorticoid