Using Electroporation to Improve and Accelerate Zebrafish Embryo Toxicity Testing.

Zebrafish have emerged as a useful model for biomedical research and have been used in environmental toxicology studies. However, the presence of the chorion during the embryo stage limits cellular exposure to toxic elements and creates the possibility of a false-negative or reduced sensitivity in fish embryo toxicity testing (FET). This paper presents the use of electroporation as a technique to improve the delivery of toxic elements inside the chorion, increasing the exposure level of the toxins at an early embryo stage (<3 h post-fertilization).

Transgenic expression in zebrafish embryos with an intact chorion by electroporation and microinjection.

Electroporation is regularly used to deliver agents into cells, including transgenic materials, but it is not used for mutating zebrafish embryos due to the lack of suitable systems, information on appropriate operating parameters, and the challenges posed by the protective chorion. Here, a novel method for gene delivery in zebrafish embryos was developed by combining microinjection into the space between the chorion and the embryo followed by electroporation. This method eliminates the need for chorion removal and injecting into the space between the chorion and embryo eliminates the need for finding and identifying key cell locations before performing an injection, making the process much simpler and more automatable.