Presentation description

My research focuses on using zebrafish as a model system to investigate eye development and the consequences of immune system activation on the eye. Zebrafish offer a valuable model due to their rapid development and highly similar eye and immune system compared with humans. We aim to understand how activation of the embryonic immune system influences eye development, because in mammals, abnormal fetal immune activity, which can arise from pathogen exposure or genetic mutations affecting immune regulators, can affect the eye. Such activation may disrupt critical eye structures, such as the lens and retina, although the precise mechanisms and consequences remain unclear. Understanding these interactions will contribute broader insights into developmental biology and disease pathology. To investigate this, we are using a new transgenic zebrafish line in which we induce, using heat shock, a high level of ectopic expression of Type 1 interferon (IFN1), an important component of the innate immune system. We then monitor downstream signaling using an interferon signaling reporter, which drives EGFP expression. Upon heat shock, we see induction of interferon signaling (EGFP), telling us that signaling has increased and heat shock works as intended. Surprisingly, however, the location and level of IFN1 signaling is tissue-dependent, with the highest levels of IFN1 signaling occurring in the lens, as well as in other tissues like immune cells and intestinal epithelium. We are now examining the consequence of increased IFN1 signaling cell membranes appear much less uniform compared to control, but this is still under investigation.