Genetic determinants of hyaloid and retinal vasculature in zebrafish

The retinal vasculature is a capillary network of blood vessels that nourishes the inner retina of most mammals. Developmental abnormalities or microvascular complications in the retinal vasculature result in severe human eye diseases that lead to blindness. To exploit the advantages of zebrafish for genetic, developmental and pharmacological studies of retinal vasculature, we characterised the intraocular vasculature in zebrafish.

We show a detailed morphological and developmental analysis of the retinal blood supply in zebrafish. Similar to the transient hyaloid vasculature in mammalian embryos, vessels are first found attached to the zebrafish lens at 2.5 days post fertilisation. These vessels progressively lose contact with the lens and by 30 days post fertilisation adhere to the inner limiting membrane of the juvenile retina. Ultrastructure analysis shows these vessels to exhibit distinctive hallmarks of mammalian retinal vasculature. For example, smooth muscle actin-expressing pericytes are ensheathed by the basal lamina of the blood vessel, and vesicle vacuolar organelles (VVO), subcellular mediators of vessel-retinal nourishment, are present. Finally, we identify 9 genes with cell membrane, extracellular matrix and unknown identity that are necessary for zebrafish hyaloid and retinal vasculature development.

Zebrafish have a retinal blood supply with a characteristic developmental and adult morphology. Abnormalities of these intraocular vessels are easily observed, enabling application of genetic and chemical approaches in zebrafish to identify molecular regulators of hyaloid and retinal vasculature in development and disease.