See-through ‘MitoFish’ opens a new window on brain diseases
December 6, 2012
A confocal microscope image of a zebrafish head, showing labeling of sensory axon membranes (yellow), mitochondria (cyan), and autofluorescence (red) (credit: Leanne Godinho and Thomas Misgeld/TU Muenchen)
German scientists have developed a transgenic variety of the zebrafish, which is transparent in the early stages of its life: the “MitoFish,” which enables the scientists to see how brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disturb the transport of mitochondria, the power plants of the cell.
Background
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and MS (multiple sclerosis) are quite different in their effects on patients’ cognitive and motor functions, behavior, and prognosis. Yet on the level of individual neurons, common mechanisms can be observed that either cause or accompany nerve degeneration in a number of different diseases.
One of these is a disturbance in the transport of mitochondria, organelles that play several vital roles in the life of a cell — above all, delivering energy where it is needed. And in a neuron, an extremely power-hungry cell, that means moving mitochondria all the way down its longest extension, the axon.
Studying mitochondria transport in other animal models of neurodegenerative disease, particularly in mice, has been revealing.
A wide-field image of a zebrafish tail showing labeling of sensory axon membranes (green) and mitochondria (cyan) (credit: Dominik Paquet/LMU Munich)
The MitoFish
But the MitoFish model opens up new possibilities. It was jointly developed in the labs of Prof. Thomas Misgeld of the Technische Universität München (TUM) and Dr. Bettina Schmid, a senior scientist of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) based at the institute of LMU Prof. Christian Haass.
The MitoFish is both readily manipulated, enabling researchers to pose specific questions, and literally transparent — allowing non-invasive in vivo observation of changes relevant to disease processes. It is possible to image a whole, living neuron over time and to follow the movements of mitochondria within it.
“The zebrafish is an established genetic model,” Schmid explains, “which means you can bring foreign genes or certain proteins into a fish to test hypotheses about basic biology, disease mechanisms, or potential therapies.
And because the early embryo is transparent, you can label specific nerve cells with a fluorescent protein and then look at them in an intact, living animal.”
A confocal image of a single zebrafish sensory neuron with labeled membrane (red) and mitochondria (green) (credit: Gabriela Plucinska/TU Muenchen)
This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG); the TUM Institute for Advanced Study, and Excellence Clusters SyNergy (Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology) and CIPSM (Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich); the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme; and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Comments (7)
by Mr.X
“German scientists have developed a transgenic variety of the zebrafish, which is transparent in the early stages of its life: the “MitoFish,” which enables the scientists to see how brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disturb the transport of mitochondria, the power plants of the cell.”
Who else?Our median age is 43^^
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Conclusion: We need renewable energy.
by Gorden Russell
Well of course we need solar arrays and wind turbines. But China has most of the world’s supply of neodymium to make the super magnets for generators and air conditioner motors. The rest of us will have to get it from the moon and the asteroids.
But after the Sing we will have the self-replicating photovoltaic carbon nanocells that use the power of the sun to grow themselves out of the carbon in the air. This will save us from global warming while giving all people everywhere an abundant life. Desalinization plants will be grown and then pipelines will grow to water the Sahara and the Gobi. Houses will grow in all the desolate wastes for all the poor to have mansions. Carbon from the air will be assembled into carbon nanotubes and graphene and every other useful carbon compound, including food and clothing and furniture and even hydrogen powered automobiles.
Thanks for quoting that poem, Mr. X. It’s an old favorite.
by Mr.X
@Gorden:
I guess I took the dying light too literally.Ok, I was kidding.
But yeah, that poem is beautiful.I always wondered how people with “non-tragic” lives could think otherwise.Maybe I’ll learn…
by Gorden Russell
“Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and MS (multiple sclerosis) are…” …things that will prevent us from seeing the Singularity.
If you want to see the Sing, you have to get excited about research that will keep our minds sharp for the coming things.
Thanks for bringing us this article, Amara.
by Ian Clarke
Yep. There’s no point living for longer, unless you’re able to enjoy and appreciate it! I’m sure as life expectancy increases, so will the money that goes into curing these diseases of old age.
I sometimes wonder how these future fit & healthy multi-centenarians will be viewed. Will such folk be revered as sages, or will we even know (or care) who’s old and who isn’t anymore? Will age just become an irrelevance?
by Jerry
I’m sure they’ll always been some interest in the people who lived in today’s times, but mostly I can see age being irrelevant since no one would be able to tell. Maybe it’ll even be a fashion style,the distinguished look of a 40 yr old with the hint of grey hair might give off a better impression than a 25 yr old running a fortune 500?
by Mr.X
“Yep. There’s no point living for longer, unless you’re able to enjoy and appreciate it! I’m sure as life expectancy increases, so will the money that goes into curing these diseases of old age.”
Some would say, to live longer, you have to cure all these diseases.Either that, or you’ll surely die.In other words: to extent life expectancy (?), you have to solve these problems.