Novel zebrafish model reveals a critical role for MAPK in lymphangiogenesis.

R Dawn Fevurly, Sean Hasso, Alexander Fye, Steven J Fishman, Joanne Chan

Vascular Biology Program, Vascular Anomalies Center and Department of Surgery Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Journal of pediatric surgery 2012 Jan

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Lymphatic disorders are poorly understood with few animal models. We designed a novel assay to measure lymphatic development using transgenic zebrafish with fluorescently labeled endothelial cells. Two major branches of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) signaling pathway were examined: the MAPK and PI3K pathways. Direct visualization of lymphatic development was performed in control embryos or under chemical inhibition. Treatment involved a 6-hour pulse of inhibitor at 3 days postfertilization. Fish were analyzed for the presence of the thoracic duct (TD) at 4 days postfertilization (n > 100 specimens). Thoracic duct formation was prevented using selective inhibitors against kinases (MAPK, PI3K/TOR, or VEGFR). These kinases were important for TD formation because the lymphatic vessel failed to form in most of treated animals. Remarkably, MAPK pathway inhibition most robustly reduced lymphangiogenesis, demonstrated by a lack of lymphatic endothelial cells. We conclude that MAPK pathway function downstream of the VEGFRs is crucial at the early stages of TD development. This study provides a novel animal model and a potential target pathway for further investigation. We suggest further examination of MAPK pathway deregulation as a potential mechanism underlying lymphatic disease in humans. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

R Dawn Fevurly, Sean Hasso, Alexander Fye, Steven J Fishman, Joanne Chan. Novel zebrafish model reveals a critical role for MAPK in lymphangiogenesis. Journal of pediatric surgery. 2012 Jan;47(1):177-82