Specialized research with zebrafish
The zebrafish core facility provides high-end infrastructure to perform experiments using the zebrafish model. Our unit is open to internal, external and cooperate customers.
Let us make you an offer
Not sure what you want, how to do it or how much it will cost? Please contact us on zebrafish-office@km.ki.se, shedule a meeting and/or visit our homepage in the KI facility booking system iLab.
Your needs in our solutions
- The team of the zebrafish core facility can run complex research projects for you including applying for required licenses, planning the project, performing the experiments, and interpreting the data.
- We offer researchers proficient in zebrafish techniques full accessibility to all instrumentation after an introduction.
- We offer researchers not proficient in zebrafish techniques hands-on training in various techniques by our experts.
- We provide research animals, even large quantities, to other zebrafish research facilities in Sweden and Europe.
Services and techniques
We provide four complete workstations for micromanipulation of zebrafish embryos; all are equipped with an Eppendorf Femtojet 4x to for most reproducible results. The workstations can be used for microinjections or xenotransplantation of human cancer cells and human primary material.
Our epi-fluorescent stereomicroscopes enable you to image your zebrafish embryos in bright-field, dark-field and reverse contrast or take epi-fluorescent pictures. You can even run long-term time laps imaging or record videos for heart-beat analysis and much more. A heating plate ensures that the fish are kept at correct temperature during imaging.
We provide a Noldus DanioVision workstation and the EthoVision XT and Danioscope software for automated analysis of zebrafish behavior, heartbeats, and blood flow. Our equipment allows you to analyze the behavior of up to 96 embryos at the same time - ideal for screening purposes.
The zebrafish core facility provides a platform for automated imaging of zebrafish embryos. This platform is a plate-based imaging system in which zebrafish embryos (live or fixed) can be imaged in brightfield and/or fluorescence. Both single images and image stacks can be taken as well as time-laps and real-time movies recorded.
We offer a cryopreservation and IVF service of zebrafish lines. The cryopreservation service includes importing the zebrafish strain (if necessary), cryopreservation of sperm, quality-control of the sperm samples, long-term storage of the sperm, in-vitro fertilization, and export of rederived strains..
Our zebrafish core facility is one of the few facilities in the Nordic countries that offers a zebrafish Biosafety level-2 (BSL-2) laboratory. In this laboratory, zebrafish or other aquatic organisms can be exposed to level-2 bacteria and viruses. The BSl-2 laboratory is equipped with a workstation for micromanipulation of embryos, an advanced epi-fluorescent microscope, and a class-2 LAF hood. Temporary housing of animals is possible.
Our zebrafish core facility is one of the few facilities in Europe that can provide zebrafish free of Pseudoloma neurophilia – so called SPF zebrafish. Every batch of fish is health checked by an accredited companies and a certificate will follow every delivery. These animals are especially important for behavior assays and other experiments that require a high level of standardization.
Our open-access unit provides 24/7 accessibility to fish-lines for our registered users. The open access barrier is a terminal procedure room in which fish with unknown health status can be housed and used for experiments. The unit is equipped with microscopes and a complete workstation for microinjection.
In collaboration with the Advanced Light Microscopy (ALM) Facility at Scilifelab we provide high-end in-vivo and real-time imaging of zebrafish embryos. An image from one of our recent projects employing light-sheet real-time microscopy was used on the cover page of the journal Neuro-Oncology.