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Updated: Dec 19, 2025
Live Imaging of Innate Immune and Preneoplastic Cell Interactions Using an Inducible Gal4/UAS Expression System in Larval Zebrafish Skin
Published on: February 3, 2015
GFP expression pattern in pituitary and gonads under the control of nuclear progesterone receptor promoter in
Jing Huang1, Ting Ting Zhang1, Ke Jiang1
1State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
Background:
The nuclear progesterone receptor (Pgr) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor primarily responsible for mediating progesterone actions relevant for reproduction across vertebrates. Information on the cellular localization of Pgr expression in the reproductive system is required for developing a comprehensive approach to elucidate the role of Pgr in reproduction.
Results:
We generated transgenic zebrafish Tg(pgr:eGFP) that express enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) driven by promoter sequence of pgr gene. The tissue distribution pattern of egfp mRNA is consistent with the pgr mRNA expression in Tg(pgr:eGFP). In the pituitary, GFP signals are found in the proximal pars distalis. In order to better discern the cellular localization of GFP signals in gonads, Tg(pgr:eGFP) line was crossed with Tg(gsdf:nfsB-mCherry) line, specifically expressing nitroreductase-mCherry fusion protein in granulosa and Sertoli cells in ovary and testis, respectively. Imaging of testis tissue showed that GFP expression was confined to Leydig cells. In the ovary, GFP expression colocalized with the mCherry signal in granulosa cells. Intriguingly, we also identified some non-granulosa cells close to where blood vessels branched, expressing stronger GFP signals than granulosa cells.
Conclusions:
Analyzing Tg(pgr:eGFP) expression in zebrafish provided leads toward new routes to study the role of Pgr in reproduction.
