Jinhu Wang

The regenerative capacity of zebrafish reverses cardiac failure caused by genetic cardiomyocyte depletion

Natural models of heart regeneration in lower vertebrates such as zebrafish are based on invasive surgeries causing mechanical injuries that are limited in size. Here, we created a genetic cell ablation model in zebrafish that facilitates inducible destruction of a high percentage of cardiomyocytes. Cell-specific depletion of over 60% of the ventricular myocardium triggered signs of cardiac failure that were not observed after partial ventricular resection, including reduced animal exercise tolerance and sudden death in the setting of stressors. Massive myocardial loss activated robust cellular and molecular responses by endocardial, immune, epicardial and vascular cells. Destroyed cardiomyocytes fully regenerated within several days, restoring cardiac anatomy, physiology and performance. Regenerated muscle originated from spared cardiomyocytes that acquired ultrastructural and electrophysiological characteristics of de-differentiation and underwent vigorous proliferation. Our study indicates that genetic depletion of cardiomyocytes, even at levels so extreme as to elicit signs of cardiac failure, can be reversed by natural regenerative capacity in lower vertebrates such as zebrafish.

tcf21+ epicardial cells adopt non-myocardial fates during zebrafish heart development and regeneration.

Recent lineage-tracing studies have produced conflicting results about whether the epicardium is a source of cardiac muscle cells during heart development. Here, we examined the developmental potential of epicardial tissue in zebrafish during both embryonic development and injury-induced heart regeneration. We found that upstream sequences of the transcription factor gene tcf21 activated robust, epicardium-specific expression throughout development and regeneration. Cre recombinase-based, genetic fate-mapping of larval or adult tcf21+ cells revealed contributions to perivascular cells, but not cardiomyocytes, during each form of cardiogenesis. Our findings indicate that natural epicardial fates are limited to non-myocardial cell types in zebrafish.

In vivo monitoring of cardiomyocyte proliferation to identify chemical modifiers of heart regeneration

Adult mammalian cardiomyocytes have little capacity to proliferate in response to injury, a deficiency that underlies the poor regenerative ability of human hearts after myocardial infarction. By contrast, zebrafish regenerate heart muscle after trauma by inducing proliferation of spared cardiomyocytes, providing a model for identifying manipulations that block or enhance these events. Although direct genetic or chemical screens of heart regeneration in adult zebrafish present several challenges, zebrafish embryos are ideal for high-throughput screening. Here, to visualize cardiomyocyte proliferation events in live zebrafish embryos, we generated transgenic zebrafish lines that employ fluorescent ubiquitylation-based cell cycle indicator (FUCCI) technology. We then performed a chemical screen and identified several small molecules that increase or reduce cardiomyocyte proliferation during heart development. These compounds act via Hedgehog, Insulin-like growth factor or Transforming growth factor β signaling pathways. Direct examination of heart regeneration after mechanical or genetic ablation injuries indicated that these pathways are activated in regenerating cardiomyocytes and that they can be pharmacologically manipulated to inhibit or enhance cardiomyocyte proliferation during adult heart regeneration. Our findings describe a new screening system that identifies molecules and pathways with the potential to modify heart regeneration.

Fibronectin is deposited by injury-activated epicardial cells and is necessary for zebrafish heart regeneration.

Unlike adult mammals, adult zebrafish vigorously regenerate lost heart muscle in response to injury. The epicardium, a mesothelial cell layer enveloping the myocardium, is activated to proliferate after cardiac injury and can contribute vascular support cells or provide mitogens to regenerating muscle. Here, we applied proteomics to identify secreted proteins that are associated with heart regeneration. We found that Fibronectin, a main component of the extracellular matrix, is induced and deposited after cardiac damage. In situ hybridization and transgenic reporter analyses indicated that expression of two fibronectin paralogues, fn1 and fn1b, are induced by injury in epicardial cells, while the itgb3 receptor is induced in cardiomyocytes near the injury site. fn1, the more dynamic of these paralogs, is induced chamber-wide within one day of injury before localizing epicardial Fn1 synthesis to the injury site. fn1 loss-of-function mutations disrupted zebrafish heart regeneration, as did induced expression of a dominant-negative Fibronectin cassette, defects that were not attributable to direct inhibition of cardiomyocyte proliferation. These findings reveal a new role for the epicardium in establishing an extracellular environment that supports heart regeneration.

Epicardial regeneration is guided by cardiac outflow tract and Hedgehog signalling

In response to cardiac damage, a mesothelial tissue layer enveloping the heart called the epicardium is activated to proliferate and accumulate at the injury site. Recent studies have implicated the epicardium in multiple aspects of cardiac repair: as a source of paracrine signals for cardiomyocyte survival or proliferation; a supply of perivascular cells and possibly other cell types such as cardiomyocytes; and as a mediator of inflammation. However, the biology and dynamism of the adult epicardium is poorly understood. To investigate this, we created a transgenic line to ablate the epicardial cell population in adult zebrafish. Here we find that genetic depletion of the epicardium after myocardial loss inhibits cardiomyocyte proliferation and delays muscle regeneration. The epicardium vigorously regenerates after its ablation, through proliferation and migration of spared epicardial cells as a sheet to cover the exposed ventricular surface in a wave from the chamber base towards its apex. By reconstituting epicardial regeneration ex vivo, we show that extirpation of the bulbous arteriosus—a distinct, smooth-muscle-rich tissue structure that distributes outflow from the ventricle—prevents epicardial regeneration. Conversely, experimental repositioning of the bulbous arteriosus by tissue recombination initiates epicardial regeneration and can govern its direction. Hedgehog (Hh) ligand is expressed in the bulbous arteriosus, and treatment with a Hh signalling antagonist arrests epicardial regeneration and blunts the epicardial response to muscle injury. Transplantation of Sonic hedgehog (Shh)-soaked beads at the ventricular base stimulates epicardial regeneration after bulbous arteriosus removal, indicating that Hh signalling can substitute for the influence of the outflow tract. Thus, the ventricular epicardium has pronounced regenerative capacity, regulated by the neighbouring cardiac outflow tract and Hh signalling. These findings extend our understanding of tissue interactions during regeneration and have implications for mobilizing epicardial cells for therapeutic heart repair.

Myocardium and BMP signaling are required for endocardial differentiation

Endocardial and myocardial progenitors originate in distinct regions of the anterior lateral plate mesoderm and migrate to the midline where they coalesce to form the cardiac tube. Endocardial progenitors acquire a molecular identity distinct from other vascular endothelial cells and initiate expression of specific genes such as nfatc1. Yet the molecular pathways and tissue interactions involved in establishing endocardial identity are poorly understood. The endocardium develops in tight association with cardiomyocytes. To test for a potential role of the myocardium in endocardial morphogenesis, we used two different zebrafish models deficient in cardiomyocytes: the hand2 mutant and a myocardial-specific genetic ablation method. We show that in hand2 mutants endocardial progenitors migrate to the midline but fail to assemble into a cardiac cone and do not express markers of differentiated endocardium. Endocardial differentiation defects were rescued by myocardial but not endocardial-specific expression of hand2. In metronidazole-treated myl7:nitroreductase embryos, myocardial cells were targeted for apoptosis, which resulted in the loss of endocardial nfatc1 expression. However, endocardial cells were present and retained expression of general vascular endothelial markers. We further identified bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) as a candidate myocardium-derived signal required for endocardial differentiation. Chemical and genetic inhibition of BMP signaling at the tailbud stage resulted in severe inhibition of endocardial differentiation while there was little effect on myocardial development. Heat-shock-induced bmp2b expression rescued endocardial nfatc1 expression in hand2 mutants and in myocardium-depleted embryos. Our results indicate that the myocardium is crucial for endocardial morphogenesis and differentiation, and identify BMP as a signal involved in endocardial differentiation. Highlighted article: Interactions between the myocardium and endocardium are important for heart development, with myocardium-derived BMP signals playing a key role in specifying endocardial fate.

zebraflash transgenic lines for in vivo bioluminescence imaging of stem cells and regeneration in adult zebrafish

The zebrafish has become a standard model system for stem cell and tissue regeneration research, based on powerful genetics, high tissue regenerative capacity and low maintenance costs. Yet, these studies can be challenged by current limitations of tissue visualization techniques in adult animals. Here we describe new imaging methodology and present several ubiquitous and tissue-specific luciferase-based transgenic lines, which we have termed zebraflash, that facilitate the assessment of regeneration and engraftment in freely moving adult zebrafish. We show that luciferase-based live imaging reliably estimates muscle quantity in an internal organ, the heart, and can longitudinally follow cardiac regeneration in individual animals after major injury. Furthermore, luciferase-based detection enables visualization and quantification of engraftment in live recipients of transplanted hematopoietic stem cell progeny, with advantages in sensitivity and gross spatial resolution over fluorescence detection. Our findings present a versatile resource for monitoring and dissecting vertebrate stem cell and regeneration biology.

Origin, Specification, and Plasticity of the Great Vessels of the Heart

The pharyngeal arch arteries (PAAs) are a series of paired embryonic blood vessels that give rise to several major arteries that connect directly to the heart. During development, the PAAs emerge from nkx2.5-expressing mesodermal cells and connect the dorsal head vasculature to the outflow tract of the heart. Despite their central role in establishing the circulatory system, the embryonic origins of the PAA progenitors are only coarsely defined, and the factors that specify them and their regenerative potential are unclear. Using fate mapping and mutant analysis, we find that PAA progenitors are derived from the tcf21 and nkx2.5 double-positive head mesoderm and require these two transcription factors for their specification and survival. Unexpectedly, cell ablation shows that the tcf21+; nkx2.5+ PAA progenitors are not required for PAA formation. We find that this compensation is due to the replacement of ablated tcf21+; nkx2.5+ PAA cells by endothelial cells from the dorsal head vasculature. Together, these studies assign the embryonic origin of the great vessel progenitors to the interface between the pharyngeal and cardiac mesoderm, identify the transcription factor code required for their specification, and reveal an unexpected plasticity in the formation of the great vessels.

Tension Creates an Endoreplication Wavefront that Leads Regeneration of Epicardial Tissue

Mechanisms that control cell-cycle dynamics during tissue regeneration require elucidation. Here we find in zebrafish that regeneration of the epicardium, the mesothelial covering of the heart, is mediated by two phenotypically distinct epicardial cell subpopulations. These include a front of large, multinucleate leader cells, trailed by follower cells that divide to produce small, mononucleate daughters. By using live imaging of cell-cycle dynamics, we show that leader cells form by spatiotemporally regulated endoreplication, caused primarily by cytokinesis failure. Leader cells display greater velocities and mechanical tension within the epicardial tissue sheet, and experimentally induced tension anisotropy stimulates ectopic endoreplication. Unbalancing epicardial cell-cycle dynamics with chemical modulators indicated autonomous regenerative capacity in both leader and follower cells, with leaders displaying an enhanced capacity for surface coverage. Our findings provide evidence that mechanical tension can regulate cell-cycle dynamics in regenerating tissue, stratifying the source cell features to improve repair.

Methodologies for Inducing Cardiac Injury and Assaying Regeneration in Adult Zebrafish

The zebrafish has emerged as an important model organism for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of tissue regeneration. Adult zebrafish efficiently replace cardiac muscle after partial resection of their ventricle, or after transgenic ablation of cardiomyocytes. Here, we describe methodology for inducing these injuries and assaying indicators of regeneration.