Earlier in 2025, we welcomed our third cohort of Development's Pathway to Independence (PI) fellows - researchers whom we will be supporting as they

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a valuable model organism for studying developmental processes due to its external development and the optical clarity of its embryos and larvae. However, as development pro...

Cell signaling regulates a wide range of biological processes including development, homeostasis, and disease. Accessible technologies to precisely manipulate signaling have important applications in ...

Glial-vascular interactions are critical for the formation and maintenance of brain blood vessels and the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in mammals, but their role in the zebrafish BBB remains unclear. Using three glial gene promoters—gfap, glast, and glastini (a truncated glast)—we explored glial-vascular development in zebrafish. Sparse labeling showed fewer glial-vascular interactions at early stages, with glial coverage and contact area increasing with age. Stable transgenic lines for glast and glastini revealed similar developmental increases, starting at ∼30% coverage at 3 days post-fertilization (dpf) and peaking at ∼60% by 10 dpf, and consistently higher glial coverage in the forebrain and midbrain than in the hindbrain.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the brain from circulating metabolites and plays central roles in neurological diseases. Endothelial cells (ECs) of the BBB are enwrapped by mural cells includin...