Survivability of Transgenic Zebrafish (Danio rerio) with the ApoE4_1-151 Fragment

Alzheimer’s disease is a fatal disorder that leads to neuronal cell loss in brain regions crucial for thinking & memory. While the inheritance risk of the APOE4 allele is well documented, the molecular basis for how it leads to enhanced dementia risk is not yet understood. Previous work in the Rohn lab has shown that proteolysis & formation of an amino-terminal protein fragment (ApoE4 _1-151 ) may contribute to toxicity in vitro . Using zebrafish as an in vivo model organism, mutants expressing this fragment were generated to examine any deleterious effects. As an initial approach, this study seeks to determine the lethality of these transgenic F1 zebrafish.