Zebrafish Optokinetic Reflex: Minimal Reporting Guidelines and Recommendations.

Optokinetic reflex (OKR) assays in zebrafish models are a valuable tool for studying a diverse range of ophthalmological and neurological conditions. Despite its increasing popularity in recent years, there are no clear reporting guidelines for the assay. Following reporting guidelines in research enhances reproducibility, reduces bias, and mitigates underreporting and poor methodologies in published works. To better understand optimal reporting standards for an OKR assay in zebrafish, we performed a systematic literature review exploring the animal, environmental, and technical factors that should be considered. Using search criteria from three online databases, a total of 109 research papers were selected for review. Multiple crucial factors were identified, including larval characteristics, sample size, fixing method, OKR set-up, distance of stimulus, detailed stimulus parameters, eye recording, and eye movement analysis. The outcome of the literature analysis highlighted the insufficient information provided in past research papers and the lack of a systematic way to present the parameters related to each of the experimental factors. To circumvent any future errors and champion robust transparent research, we have created the zebrafish optokinetic (ZOK) reflex minimal reporting guideline.

Zebrafish twist2/dermo1 regulates scale shape and scale organization during skin development and regeneration.

Scales are skin appendages in fishes that evolutionarily predate feathers in birds and hair in mammals. Zebrafish scales are dermal in origin and develop during metamorphosis. Understanding regulation of scale development in zebrafish offers an exciting possibility of unraveling how the mechanisms of skin appendage formation evolved in lower vertebrates and whether these mechanisms remained conserved in birds and mammals. Here we have investigated the expression and function of twist 2/dermo1 gene - known for its function in feather and hair formation - in scale development and regeneration. We show that of the four zebrafish twist paralogues, twist2/dermo1 and twist3 are expressed in the scale forming cells during scale development. Their expression is also upregulated during scale regeneration. Our knockout analysis reveals that twist2/dermo1 gene functions in the maintenance of the scale shape and organization during development as well as regeneration. We further show that the expression of twist2/dermo1 and twist3 is regulated by Wnt signaling. Our results demonstrate that the function of twist2/dermo1 in skin appendage formation, presumably under regulation of Wnt signaling, originated during evolution of basal vertebrates.

Bacterial Peptide Deformylase Inhibition of Tetrazole-Substituted Biaryl Acid Analogs: Synthesis, Biological Evaluations, and Molecular Docking Study.

The synthesis and screening of tetrazole-substituted biaryl acid analogs 7a-l as bacterial peptide deformylase (PDF) enzyme inhibitors is reported. The compounds 7e (IC50 value = 5.50 µM) and 7g (IC50 value = 7.25 µM) showed good PDF inhibition activity. The compounds 7e (MIC range = 10.75-11.66 µg/mL) and 7g (MIC range = 8.91-12.83 µg/mL) also showed potent antibacterial activity when compared with the standard ciprofloxacin (MIC range = 25-50 µg/mL). Thus, the active derivatives were not only potent PDF enzyme inhibitors but also efficient antibacterial agents. In order to gain more insight into the binding mode of the compounds with the PDF enzyme, the most active compounds 7e and 7g, the moderately active compound 7k, and the least active compound 7h were docked against the PDF enzyme of Escherichia coli. The docking study of the most active compounds 7e and 7g against the PDF enzyme exhibited good binding properties. Hence, we believe our synthesized compounds 7a-l could serve as reservoir for bacterial PDF inhibitor development.