A multichannel computer-driven system to raise aquatic embryos under selectable hypoxic conditions

Abstract:

The formation of a functional cardiovascular system is an essential step in the early vertebrate embryo. Nevertheless, the effect of hypoxia on the developmental program of organisms was studied rarely. In particular, this holds true for vertebrate embryos that depend on a functional placenta for proper development and had not been studied in this respect due to the obvious limitation. We established a protocol to culture aquatic embryos, which enabled us to culture a high number of Xenopus embryos until tadpole stage under defined hypoxic conditions in four hypoxia chambers simultaneously, employing a computerized system. In general, our results show that hypoxia results in delayed development and, in particular, we could show that oxygen availability was most crucial during gastrulation and organogenesis (early tailbud) phases during embryonic development of Xenopus laevis.

Keywords::

• Xenopus
• hypoxia
• vasculogenesis
• culture conditions
• er71
• ami

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Supplementary materials

Table S1 Developmental profiles

Table S2 Embryo viability

Figure S1 The illustration showing the dimensions of the home-made lid for the hypoxia tanks.

Box SI Reagents and materials