基因突变

Regulative Development in Axolotl Embryos; Splitting the Heart Field

Objective

ThisexperimentwillseektodemonstrateregulativedevelopmentinAmbystomamexicanumembryos.Specifically,wewillsplitthemorphogeneticfieldthatisresponsIBLeforheartformationusinggraftedtissuefromthegillarea,andattempttoformtwohearts–oneoneithersideofthegraftedtissue.

Background

Organismsthatuseregulativedevelopmentrelyoncell-cellinteractionstodeterminewhatdevelopswhere,ratherthanhavingfixedcellfates(asinmosaicdevelopment).Becauseofthis,embryosthatundergoregulativedevelopmentareabletocompensateformissingordamagedparts(Gilbert,2003).Thissortofcompensationisparticularlyseeninregionsknownasmorphogeneticfields.Theseregionsofcellsareeachcommittedtoformacertainorgan,butmadeupofindividualcellsthatarenotyetcommittedtoformaspecificpartofthatorgan.Damagetothesefieldscanbecompensatedforbytheothercellsinthefield(Gilbert2003).

Intheaxolotlsalamander(Ambystomamexicanum),theheartformsthroughthefusionoftworegionsofheartformingtissue--theheartprimordia(Hamburger,1973).Inorderfortheaxolotltohaveonefullyformedheart,thesetworegionsmustcommunicatewitheachothersothattheycan"decide"whenandhowtocometogether.Theoretically,ifthiscommunicationwereinterruptedbydamagetothetissue(orabarrierplacedbetweentheprimordiatissue),theheartprimordiawouldbeunabletofuseintoone.ThiscommunicationandsubsequentABIlitytocompensatefordamage,isaprimeexampleofregulativedevelopment.

Thisexperimentwilltakeadvantageofthemorphogeneticfieldoftheaxolotlheart.Thefactthattwoheartsformisnotonlyamazingtobehold,butdemonstratesthatthecells,whenpreventedfromcommunicatingwitheachother,willgoontoformtwoseparateorgans.Thisisadirectresultofregulativedevelopment.

Materials

Axolotlembryos(stage14-16)1%agarose-coatedoperatingdishes100%HEPES-bufferedModifiedSteinberg"sSolution(HBSt)withantibiotics(gentamycinat70mg/ml)50%HBSt20%HBStMicrosurgerytools(tungstenknivesandhairloops)

Procedure

1)Removethefirsttwojellycoatsfromseveralstage14-16embryos

a.Transferembryosintodishof20%HBStusingplasticpipet(thetipshouldbecutoffsothatyoucansuckuptheembryosasiftheywerethebubblesinbubbletea).

b.Withfinestforceps,grabandPiercethemoreinteriorofthetwovisiblejellycoats.Thistakespracticeandpatience,asthejellyisveryslippery.

c.Oncepierced,firmlypullthejellycoatapart,takingcarenottosquashtheembryointheprocess.Theembryoshouldpopoutnicelyoncethejellycoatsareopenedupenough.

2)Removethevitellinemembrane

a.Prepare1%agarose-coatedoperatingdish
i.HeatglasspipettipusingBunsenburneruntilmeltedintoalittleballatthetip

ii.Presshottiptoseveralplacesinthedishtoformlittleindentationsintheagarose.Thiswillhelpholdtheembryosinplacewhileoperating.

iii.Filldishwith100%HBStwithgentamycin

b.Placeembryosinoperatingdishandletsitforabout5minutes.Thiswillallowthevitellinemembranetopuffupwithwatersomewhat,makingiteasiertoremove.

c.Withplentyoflightfromthestereoscope,lookforvitellinemembranearoundembryo.Gentlytrytograbitwithfineforcepsandpulloff.Again,thistakespracticeandpatience.*Damagedembryosshouldbetransferredtoaseparatedishforuseastissuedonorsetc.*

3)Obtaingilltissuefromstage16donor

a.Placedonorembryoinoneoftheindentationsinthedishwithitsflanksidefacingup,ventralsidetowardyou,anddorsalaway.

b.Intheloweranteriorcornerthereshouldbeaslightlylightercoloredregion(thepresumtivegilltissue);thisiswhatyouwanttocutout(Figure1);useatungstenknifetocutandahairlooptohelpholdtheembryoinplace.Thiscuttingtakessomegettingusedto;don"tbesurprisedifatfirstyouendupsquishingtheembryointomanylittleyolkycells.

4)Preparehost(~stage15)fortissuetransplant

a.Placehostembryoinoneoftheindentationswithventralsideup.

b.Usingthetungstenknifetocutandhairlooptohelpholdtheembryoinplace.Makeanincisionthatisaboutathirdthelengthoftheembryo,buttowardstheanterior.Youjustwanttobreaktheexteriorandscrapealittlewayintothecellssotherewillbeenoughroomforthegraft.Thisalsotakesabitofpractice.

5)Puttissuetransplantintohost

a.Pickuptissuetransplantwithhairloopandtransferintoincisioninhost.

b.Usetungstenknifeandhairlooptogentlybutfirmlypushtissueintoincision

6)Allowtohealovernightintheiroperatingdishes,thengraduallyreplacesolutiontoreduceconcentrationto20%HBSt.

7)Afterembryosheal,transfertofreshagarose-coateddish.

8)After3or4days,checkforheartpulsations,beingsuretonoteiftwoheatshaveformed,andiftheyhave,whetherornottheybeatinsynch.

9)Collectphotosandvideoofsuccessfulhosts.

Results

Sixaxolotlembryoswereinitiallypreparedsuccessfully,andofthose,atleastoneshowedadistinctheartbeatby6daysaftersurgery.Determiningwhetherornottheheartfieldhadbeenaffectedbythegraftwasdifficultduetotheopacityoftheaxolotlskin,andthepositioningoftheembryointheoperatingdish;onesidedown,suchthatonlyonesidecouldbeviewedatatimewithoutdamagingtheembryo.

Evidencethattheheartfieldwasnotparticularlyaffectedincludesthefactthatthegraftedtissuewasatleastpartiallyrejected.Additionally,whenviewingthegillscloseup,theflowthroughthemseemedcompletelysynchronousbetweentheleftandrightgills,aswellasinsynchwiththevisibleheartbeat.Asforthestageofheartdevelopment,itappearstohavedevelopedatleastsomewhatnormallytoapointsomewherebetweenstagesAandBinFigure7.Specificallythebloodflowseemedtostarttowardtheventral-anteriorcorneroftheheart,flowupwardstowardthedorsalarea,andfinallydowntotheventral-posteriorregion(Figures5and6).

Thereweresomeirregularitieshowever.InFigures3,4,5&6wecanseethattheheartregioniswellbehindthegills.Thisissomewhatfartherbackandmoretoonesidethanonewouldnormallyexpecttofindtheheart.Thisirregularityopensupthepossibilitythattheheartfieldwasatleastsomewhataffected,despiteappearingtohaveasynchronousheartbeat.

Figure3.Photoofsixdayaxolotlembryoshowinglocationofheartandearlyheartdevelopment.Noteeruptionofpreviouslygraftedtissuefromventralregion.

Figure4.Closeupoffigure3,focusingonheartregionandtissueeruption.

Figure5.Closeupoffigure3&4,focusingonheartregion.

Figure6.Outlinediagramoffigure5,showingspecificallytheoutlineoftheheartregion.Theredarrowsindicatetheobserveddirectionofbloodflow.

A

B

Figure7.Twoearlystagesofamphibianheartdevelopment;heartdevelopmentinabovefigures3-6ispresumedtobebetweenthesetwostages.DiagramssimplifiedafterRugh,1951.

Discussion

Fromourobservationofasingledistinctheartbeat,itappearedthattheattempttodividetheheartfieldwasnotsuccessful.Additionallytheobserveddirectionofbloodflowandapparentsynchronousflowthroughtheleftandrightgillsseemedconsistentwithnormalamphibianheartdevelopment(Rugh,1951).However,theabilitytoobservetheheartbeatswashinderedbytheopacityoftheaxolotlskin,aswellasthepositionoftheembryointheoperatingdish,sotheseobservationsmaynotaccuratelyreflectthetrueconditionoftheheart.Inaddition,theheartappearedtobesomewhatmoreposteriorthanwouldnormallybeexpected.Thepresenceofthisirregularityleadsustobelievethattheheartfieldwasaffectedinsomeway.Ifthiswerethecase,theheatcouldactuallybesplit,orpartiallysplit,buthavetwoheartbeatsthathappentoappearsynchronous.

Thefactthatthegraftedtissuewasobservederuptingfromthebelly/ventralregionoftheembryomaysuggestthatthegraft,whichwasintendedtosplittheheartregion,wasnotincorporatedintotheembryoenoughtosufficientlyblockcommunicationbetweenthetwohalvesoftheheartfield(Figures3,4,&5).Itshouldbenotedthatthereareotherexplanationsforthesedatathatmightalsobeevidenceforregulativedevelopment.Forinstance,thegilltissuecouldbetransformingintohearttissuethroughcell-cellinteractions.However,therelativelyadvanceddevelopmentalstageofthedonortissue,andthefactthatthephotosseemtoclearlyshowtissuerejection,donotsupportthisconclusion.Intheend,theseresultsareatbestinconclusiveinregardstoregulativedevelopmentintheformationoftheaxolotlheart.

Itshouldbenotedhowever,thatpreviousexperimentsusingsmallpiecesofsterilefoilasabarrierratherthangilltissue,didyieldresultssupportingtheexistenceofregulativedevelopmentintheaxolotlheart.Specifically,twohearts,oneoneithersideofthefoilbarrier,wereseentodevelopandclearlybeatasynchronously(VélezandKrsmanovic,2004).Otherexamplesofthemanipulationofmorphogeneticfields,andthereforeevidenceofregulativedevelopment,havebeenshowninlimbregenerationstudies.Axolotlsareactuallyabletocompensatefordamagetothelimbmorphogeneticfieldsthroughouttheirlives,tothepointwhereentirelimbsmayberegeneratedfromtheremainingtissueofalimbstump(Gardineretal2002).

Sincestudiesshowthatthereisampleevidenceforregulativedevelopmentinaxolotlsitwouldthereforeseemthattheourresultslikelyhavemoretodowithexperimentaltechniquethanabsenceofregulativedevelopmentinaxolotls.Whilethistissuegraftprocedurewasnotparticularlycomplex,andwasthemethodoriginallysuggestedinHamburger"sManualofExperimentalEmbryology,inretrospectitdoesnotseemwellsuitedtothosewhohavehadlittletonopracticedoingmicrosurgery.Additionally,itshouldbenotedthatwhiletheembryoswerelargelyattheappropriatestageatthebeginningoftheprocedure,astimewenton,thewarmthoftheroomallowedthemtodevelopmorequicklythanwehadanticipated,leADIngtofewersuitableembryos.Itisimportanttorememberthatthereisonlysomuchtimebeforetheheartprimordiafuse,andgraftsmustbedonebeforethishappensinordertobesucessful.Inthefutureitwouldbeadvisabletokeeptheembryoscoldwhenevertheyarenotactuallybeingworkedon,ratherthanlettinganumberofthemsitoutatroomtemperature.

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