Myostatin Modulates the Heart Rate in Zebrafish Embryos - Abstract
Myostatin, a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth, is also expressed in cardiac muscle; however its function in this tissue is poorly understood. In this study, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to inactivate mstn in zebrafish. Microinjection was performed in one-cell stage embryos, and genomic DNA sequencing analysis confirmed
high mutation efficiency. Coronal histological sections from 5 days post-fertilization (dpf) larvae showed the expected phenotype of skeletal muscle growth, but no evident morphological alterations were observed in the heart. An examination of 2 dpf embryos revealed a significant decrease in the heart rate, suggesting that mstn could play a role in cardiac function during development.