The effect of cardiac troponin T2 knockdown on gene expression in zebrafish embryos

We examined the transcriptional effect of preventing cardiac contraction in zebrafish embryos which can be deprived of circulation without experiencing hypoxia since the fish obtain sufficient oxygen via diffusion. Morpholino antisense knockdown of cardiac troponin T2 (tnnt2) prevented cardiac contraction without affecting vascular development. We concluded that absence of hemodynamic force induces endothelial CXCR4a up-regulation and promotes recovery of blood flow. We used microarrays to define the genetic signatures of the development of collateral vessels in zebrafish. Keywords: Time course comparison of wild type zebrafish embryos and morpholino antisense against troponin t2 treated embryos. One cell zebrafish embryos were injected with morpholino antisense against control or cardiac troponin t2, which prevents cardiac development. Whole embryo RNA was extracted at 36, 48, and 60h post fertilization and transcriptionally profiled.