Study of Effects of Dopamine on Embryonic Cardiovascular Development in Zebrafish

Abstract

Zebrafish share genetic similarities to human and have served as an effective animal model to study a wide range of biological processes in human. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a central role in brain functions. However, the role of dopamine in the development of cardiovascular system and heart function is less clear. In this study, we used a transgenic zebrafish with a cardiac protein (Flk1) fused with green fluorescence protein (GFP) that enables us to directly visualize the Flk1 cardiac protein, and developing cardiovascular system in developing zebrafish embryos, and studied the effects of their development in the presence of various concentrations of dopamine. We characterized the dependence of heart rates, hatching and phenotypes of developed zebrafish upon the concentration of dopamine in vivo in real time using optical and fluorescence microscopy. Our results show the high dependence of cardiovascular development and heart function of developing embryos upon the concentration of dopamine