Ventricular cryoinjury as a model to study heart regeneration in zebrafish

Abstract

Zebrafish have the capacity to regenerate most of its organs upon injury, including the heart. Due to its amenability for genetic manipulation, the zebrafish is an excellent model organism to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms promoting heart regeneration. Several cardiac injury models have been developed in zebrafish, including ventricular resection, genetic ablation, and ventricular cryoinjury. This chapter provides a detailed protocol of zebrafish ventricular cryoinjury and highlights factors and critical steps to be considered when performing this method.