Manipulation of Danio rerio Melanosome Dispersion By Targeting Second Messenger Systems — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

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Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
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Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Manipulation of Danio rerio Melanosome Dispersion By Targeting Second Messenger Systems

Name: Meredyth Wenta
Major: Biology
Hometown: Kenosha
Faculty Sponsor: Andrea Henle
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research
Funding: no funding source

Abstract

Zebrafish pigmentation is caused by the presence of melanin-containing chromatophores called melanophores (Jensen, 2016). Melanin within these cells is packaged into organelles called melanosomes. Melanosomes move within the cell on microtubules, altering the pigment within cells. Dispersal of melanosomes darkens the cell, while congregation or aggregation causes lightening (Jensen, 2016). Along the microtubules, melanosome movement is activated by the Ca2+ and cAMP second messenger systems (Jensen, 2016). Thus, dispersal of cellular pigmentation can be used to indicate activation of second messenger systems. To test this, melanosomes found in the caudal fins of Danio rerio were analyzed for movement before and after exposure to agonists and antagonists. Amputated caudal fins from wild type (WT) and Tg(mitfa:GNAQQ209L ) fish were placed in a wet mount of Ringer’s solution, and melanosome dispersal was documented and analyzed. Each caudal fin was subject to drug or chemical treatment for five minutes and then the melanosome movement was captured via microscopic imaging. Twelve treatments (including the control Ringer’s solution) were tested on each line of zebrafish. In the WT zebrafish, epinephrine treatment caused a significant decrease in pigment dispersion, indicating a congregation of melanosomes. Caudal fins from GNAQQ209L fish showed minimal variation with chemical treatment, although they had significantly more melanocyte dispersal or total pigmented area compared to WT.

Poster file