“Zebrafishing” for Novel Genes Relevant to the Glomerular Filtration Barrier

Figure 7

Schematic overview of proteinuria screening in zebrafish embryos. After identifying the zebrafish orthologue of the gene of interest, a morpholino knockdown is designed and injected in embryos. Phenotype analysis then offers the first indication of how the genetic manipulation affects the kidney. With functional assays and ultrastructural analysis compromise of the filtration barrier can be detected, and the affected structures can be identified.