© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 91
S.H. Tsang (ed.), Precision Medicine, CRISPR, and Genome Engineering,
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 1016,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-63904-8_5
Chapter 5
Genome Editing to Study Ca
2+Homeostasis
in Zebrafish Cone Photoreceptors
Susan E. Brockerhoff
Abstract Photoreceptors are specialized sensory neurons with unique biological
features. Phototransduction is well understood due in part to the exclusive expres-
sion and function of the molecular components of this cascade. Many other pro-
cesses are less well understood, but also extremely important for understanding
photoreceptor function and for treating disease. One example is the role of Ca2+ in
the cell body and overall compartmentalization and regulation of Ca2+ within the
cell. The recent development of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing techniques has made
it possible to rapidly and cheaply alter specific genes. This will help to define the
biological function of elusive processes that have been more challenging to study.
CRISPR/Cas9 has been optimized in many systems including zebrafish, which
already has some distinct advantages for studying photoreceptor biology and func-
tion. These new genome editing technologies and the continued use of the zebrafish
model system will help advance our understanding of important understudied
aspects of photoreceptor biology.
Keywords Zebrafish • Photoreceptors • Mitochondria • Genome editing • Calcium
5.1 Introduction
This review briefly summarizes the importance of studying Ca2+ homeostasis in
photoreceptors and how newly developed genome editing strategies in zebrafish can
be used to help answer outstanding questions in photoreceptor biology.
S.E. Brockerhoff, Ph.D. (*)
Departments of Biochemistry and Ophthalmology, University of Washington,
UW Medicine, 750 Republican St, Box 358058, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
e-mail: [email protected]