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Review
. 2011 Feb;68(4):651-9.
doi: 10.1007/s00018-010-0563-8. Epub 2010 Oct 24.

Genetics of photoreceptor degeneration and regeneration in zebrafish

Susan E Brockerhoff  1 , James M Fadool
Affiliations
Review

Genetics of photoreceptor degeneration and regeneration in zebrafish

Susan E Brockerhoff et al. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2011 Feb.

Abstract

Zebrafish are unique in that they provide a useful model system for studying two critically important problems in retinal neurobiology, the mechanisms responsible for triggering photoreceptor cell death and the innate stem cell-mediated regenerative response elicited by this death. In this review we highlight recent seminal findings in these two fields. We first focus on zebrafish as a model for studying photoreceptor degeneration. We summarize the genes currently known to cause photoreceptor degeneration, and we describe the phenotype of a few zebrafish mutants in detail, highlighting the usefulness of this model for studying this process. In the second section, we discuss the several different experimental paradigms that are available to study regeneration in the teleost retina. A model outlining the sequence of gene expression starting from the dedifferentiation of Müller glia to the formation of rod and cone precursors is presented.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic of a cone photoreceptor. OS Outer segment, IS inner segment
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
A model for gene expression during persistent and injury- or degeneration-induced neurogenesis in the zebrafish central retina. Adapted from [58], see text for details. ONL Outer nuclear layer, INL inner nuclear layer
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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