Zebrafish (Danio rerio) has recently emerged as a powerful experimental model in drug discovery and environmental toxicology. Drug discovery screens performed on zebrafish embryos mirror with a high level of accuracy the tests usually performed on mammalian animal models, and fish embryo toxicity assay (FET) is one of the most promising alternative approaches to acute ecotoxicity testing with adult fish. Notwithstanding this, automated in-situ analysis of zebrafish embryos is still deeply in its infancy. This is mostly due to the inherent limitations of conventional techniques and the fact that metazoan organisms are not easily susceptible to laboratory automation. In this work, we describe the development of an innovative miniaturized chip-based device for the in-situ analysis of zebrafish embryos. We present evidence that automatic, hydrodynamic positioning, trapping and long-term immobilization of single embryos inside the microfluidic chips can be combined with time-lapse imaging to provide real-time developmental analysis. Our platform, fabricated using biocompatible polymer molding technology, enables rapid trapping of embryos in low shear stress zones, uniform drug microperfusion and high-resolution imaging without the need of manual embryo handling at various developmental stages. The device provides a highly controllable fluidic microenvironment and post-analysis eleuthero-embryo stage recovery. Throughout the incubation, the position of individual embryos is registered. Importantly, we also for first time show that microfluidic embryo array technology can be effectively used for the analysis of anti-angiogenic compounds using transgenic zebrafish line (fli1a:EGFP). The work provides a new rationale for rapid and automated manipulation and analysis of developing zebrafish embryos at a large scale.

Responses of isolated, 60 mmHg 'pressurized' segments of the distal caudal artery of adult and juvenile Wistar rats to melatonin and the selective alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist 5-bromo-6-[2-imidazolin-2-ylamino]-quinoxaline bitartrate (UK-14304) were examined using the Halpern pressure myograph. Melatonin showed no direct vasoconstrictor activity in vessels from adult rats, whereas UK-14304 produced moderate vasoconstriction (pD2-7.43 +/- 0.09). In the presence of phenylephrine-induced tone, melatonin produced a variable but small constrictor response (less than 10 microns reduction in diameter) in some vessels; the response to 1 mumol/l UK-14304 was less than in the absence of tone. In vessels isolated from juvenile rats, melatonin caused concentration-dependent vasoconstriction with a maximum response about 70% of the maximum response elicited by UK-14304. Vessels from juvenile rats were more sensitive to melatonin (pD2-9.40 +/- 0.07) than they were to UK-14304 (pD2-8.12 +/- 0.14). In the presence of phenylephrine-induced tone, the vasoconstrictor responses to both melatonin and IK-14304 were markedly less; the sensitivity to melatonin was not different from that seen in the absence of tone. These findings indicate that 'pressurized' segments of the isolated distal caudal artery may provide a simple and convenient, functional model of melatonin receptors. The findings also appear to implicate melatonin in thermoregulatory processes in juvenile rats.

. Glucocorticoids, thyroid hormones, and iodothyronine deiodinases in embryonic saltwater crocodiles. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 283: R1155-R1163, 2002. First published June 20, 2002 10.1152/ajpregu.00015.2002We investigated the relationship between glucocorticoids, thyroid hormones, and outer ring and inner ring deiodinases (ORD and IRD) during embryonic development in the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). We treated the embryos with the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone (Dex), 3,3Ј,5-triiodothyronine (T3), and a combination of these two hormones (Dex ϩ T3). The effects of these treatments were specific in different tissues and at different stages of development and also brought about changes in plasma concentrations of free thyroid hormones and corticosterone. Administration of Dex to crocodile eggs resulted in a decrease in 3,3Ј,5,5Ј-tetraiodothyronine (T4) ORD activities in liver and kidney microsomes, and a decrease in the high-K m rT3 ORD activity in kidney microsomes, on day 60 of incubation. Dex treatment increased the T 4 ORD activity in liver microsomes, but not kidney microsomes, on day 75 of incubation. Dex administration decreased T 3 IRD activity in liver microsomes. However, this decrease did not change plasma-free T 3 concentrations, which suggests that free thyroid hormone levels are likely to be tightly regulated during development.

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Research doctoral graduates represent an institution's finest students. They are also the ones most likely to become tomorrow's world leaders. As the most prestigiousand the most international-of academic degrees, the PhD prepares leaders for careers in academia and research but also and increasingly for a broad range of careers in other sectors (including business, industry, the nonprofit sector, and government) and across international settings.

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This study aimed to describe the effects of change in environmental temperature, hypoxia, and hypercapnia on the breathing pattern of Crocodylus porosus. Increased environmental temperature, hypoxia, and hypercapnia each caused an increase in minute ventilation and changes in breathing pattern. Breathing frequency increased and the duration of the nonventilatory period decreased in response to all three conditions. Under hypercapnia tidal volume also increased, with no change in rate of inspiration. The number of breaths per breathing burst decreased with increased temperature but remained unaltered under hypoxia. Hypercapnia reduced the number of breaths per burst at 20 degrees C, but the number did not decrease further at 30 degrees C. The results support the idea that the responses to increased temperature, hypoxia, and hypercapnia are under separate control but that some effects of hypercapnia and temperature may involve a common regulatory pathway.