Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 31, 2025
07:35
Lineage Labeling of Zebrafish Cells with Laser Uncagable Fluorescein Dextran
Published on: April 28, 2011
14.2K
In vivo single-cell lineage tracing in zebrafish using high-resolution infrared laser-mediated gene induction
Sicong He1,2,3, Ye Tian2,3,4, Shachuan Feng2,3,4
1Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, China.
Elife
|January 7, 2020
Summary
This study introduces a novel laser-based system for precise single-cell labeling and tracing in zebrafish. The system reveals that hemogenic endothelium in zebrafish embryos exhibits heterogeneity, with distinct myeloid unipotent and bipotent subtypes.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Cell Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Cellular heterogeneity is fundamental to understanding development and homeostasis.
- Existing lineage tracing methods struggle with high-fidelity single-cell labeling and long-term in vivo observation.
- Dissecting cellular heterogeneity requires advanced single-cell resolution techniques.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel system for precise single-cell labeling and tracing in vivo.
- To investigate the heterogeneity of hemogenic endothelium (HE) in zebrafish embryos.
- To determine the developmental potential of HE subtypes.
Main Methods:
- Development of a high-precision infrared laser-evoked gene operator heat-shock system.
- Utilizing laser-induced CreERT2 and a loxP-DsRedx-loxP-GFP reporter system for lineage tracing.
- In vivo single-cell labeling and tracing in zebrafish embryos (brain, muscle, hematopoietic system).
Main Results:
- The developed system enables precise single-cell labeling in various zebrafish tissues.
- Demonstrated high-fidelity tracing of single cells in vivo.
- Revealed heterogeneity within hemogenic endothelium (HE) in the posterior blood island (PBI).
- Identified at least myeloid unipotent and myeloid-lymphoid bipotent subtypes within PBI HEs.
Conclusions:
- The novel laser-based system offers precise single-cell resolution for lineage tracing.
- Hemogenic endothelium in zebrafish posterior blood islands is heterogeneous.
- This heterogeneity includes distinct cell populations with specific hematopoietic potentials.
