Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2026

10:00
Large-scale Zebrafish Embryonic Heart Dissection for Transcriptional Analysis
Published on: January 12, 2015
Analysis of the zebrafish proteome during embryonic development
Margaret B Lucitt1, Thomas S Price, Angel Pizarro
1Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
Molecular & Cellular Proteomics : MCP
|January 24, 2008
Summary
This study profiles zebrafish (Danio rerio) protein expression at two developmental stages using mass spectrometry. It identifies 1384 proteins, revealing insights into gene networks and developmental biology.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Proteomics
- Systems Biology
Background:
- Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are crucial model organisms for studying vertebrate development and genetic networks.
- Accurate protein quantitation is essential for understanding dynamic biological networks but becomes challenging with increasing complexity.
- Previous methods lacked comprehensive protein profiling for dynamic network analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To create comprehensive, high-quality protein expression profiles at two key zebrafish developmental stages (72 and 120 hours postfertilization).
- To apply advanced mass spectrometric techniques for precise protein identification and quantitation.
- To establish a valuable resource for refining genetic network analysis in vertebrate development.
Main Methods:
- Proteins from zebrafish embryos at 72 and 120 hours postfertilization (hpf) were isolated.
- Two-dimensional (2D) LC followed by ESI-MS/MS was employed for peptide identification.
- Two-dimensional PAGE followed by MALDI-TOF/TOF was used for protein identification.
Main Results:
- 1384 proteins were identified from over 327,000 peptide sequences with <1% false identification rate using 2D LC-ESI-MS/MS.
- Proteins related to energy production and transcription/translation were more abundant at 72 hpf, indicating higher synthesis rates.
- Approximately 10% of identified proteins were hypothetical or unannotated, highlighting gaps in current genomic models.
Conclusions:
- The generated protein expression data provides a valuable resource for zebrafish research.
- This resource facilitates the selection of candidate proteins for targeted quantitation and network analysis.
- The study enhances our understanding of protein dynamics during vertebrate development and genetic network regulation.

