Validation of a newly devised red color vision test in red cone ablation zebrafish larvae

초록

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to see how well a color vision optomotor response (CV-OMR) experiment performed in zebrafish with red cone opsin ablation. Methods : Red cones were ablated in Tg (thrb:gal4;UAS:epNTR-p2a-mCherry) transgenic zebrafish by adding metronidazole (MTZ). At five days post-fertilization (dpf), transgenic zebrafish larvae were treated with MTZ for 0, 12, and 24 hours, resulting in the Tg(+)MTZ(−), Tg(+)MTZ(+)12hr, and Tg(+)MTZ(+)24hr groups, respectively. Comparing the regions of mCherry-expressing cells, which corresponded to the red cones in tissue sections (n = 4 per group). Zebrafish larvae were assessed at 6 dpf using the two-color stripe CV-OMR test (n = 20 per group). The area under the curve (AUC) of the ratio of larvae at the starting point curve was used to report the results. Six separate experiments were conducted for the CV-OMR experiment. Results : The Tg(+)MTZ(+)24hr group had the least mean mCherry expression area (1811.5 ± 453.9 m2), followed by the Tg(+)MTZ(+)12hr (3021.3 ± 361.6 m2) and Tg(+)MTZ(−) groups (6333.0 ± 2800.4 m2; p = 0.010). The ratio of larvae at the starting point fell the fastest in the Tg(+)MTZ(−) group and the slowest in the Tg(+)MTZ(+)24hr group. The AUC of the ratio of larvae at the starting point curve differed significantly across the three groups. Conclusions : The CV-OMR test exhibited the capacity to distinguish color vision impairment based on red cone ablation extent. The CV-OMR test used in this study might be useful for assessing color vision in zebrafish with different eye disorders.