Survivability of Transgenic Zebrafish (Danio rerio) with the ApoE4 _1-151 Fragment

Alzheimer’s is a fatal disorder that causes neuronal cell loss in brain regions crucial for thinking and memory. While the inheritance risk of the APOE4 allele has been well documented, the molecular basis for how ApoE4 leads to enhanced dementia risk is not yet understood. Previous work in the Rohn lab has shown that proteolysis and formation of an amino-terminal 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 mosaic zebrafish.