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Updated: Mar 8, 2026

Transplantation of Whole Kidney Marrow in Adult Zebrafish
Published on: February 25, 2007
Studying the adaptive immune system in zebrafish by transplantation of hematopoietic precursor cells
N Iwanami1, I Hess1, M Schorpp1
1Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany.
Traditionally, transplantation has been a major experimental procedure to study the development and function of hematopoietic and immune systems. Here, we describe the use of a zebrafish strain lacking definitive hematopoiesis (cmybI181N) for interspecific analysis of hematopoietic and immune cell development. Without conditioning prior to transplantation, allogeneic and xenogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cells stably engraft in adult zebrafish homozygous for the cmyb mutation. This unique animal model can be used to genetically and functionally disentangle universal and species-specific contributions of the microenvironment to hematopoietic progenitor cell maintenance and development.
Traditionally, transplantation has been a major experimental procedure to study the development and function of hematopoietic and immune systems. Here, we describe the use of a zebrafish strain lacking definitive hematopoiesis (cmybI181N) for interspecific analysis of hematopoietic and immune cell development. Without conditioning prior to transplantation, allogeneic and xenogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cells stably engraft in adult zebrafish homozygous for the cmyb mutation. This unique animal model can be used to genetically and functionally disentangle universal and species-specific contributions of the microenvironment to hematopoietic progenitor cell maintenance and development.

