Zebrafish Injury Platform (ZIP)

Zebrafish Injury Platform (ZIP)The Zebrafish Injury Platform (ZIP) is a mould designed to support 3–5 day old zebrafish larvae during unilateral wounding and longitudinal imaging. Its contour-based design allows larvae to rest horizontally despite their irregular body shape and is optimised for use in Petri dishes and 96-well plates.The ZIP enables precise unilateral wounding of specific tissues, such as the eye, otic vesicle, or heart. This makes it ideal for studies requiring direct comparison between injured and uninjured tissue. Its design also facilitates longitudinal imaging, allowing researchers to monitor larval development, wound healing, or cellular responses over time.The current design supports up to 12 larvae per plate, providing efficient, high-throughput handling for experiments.We make this design available to the community, but kindly ask that it be credited in any resulting publications.AuthorsKelvin KW ChengCarl S TuckerJustyna Cholewa-WaclawStephen MitchellFraser LaidlawBeth MillsAdriano G RossiRecommended Print SettingsPrinting method: Stereolithography (SLA)Layer height: 0.025 mm (recommended to preserve fine details)How to UsePrint ZIP using a stereolithography 3D printer (e.g., Formlabs Form 3).Prepare 2% agarose in zebrafish media supplemented with 4.2% MS-222. Pour the mixture into a Petri dish or transfer 100µL into each well in a 96-well plate.Place ZIP on the molten agarose and allow it to solidify for at least 1 hour. Remove ZIP from the solidified agarose. Transfer 3 day post-fertilisation zebrafish larvae into each well of ZIP using a Pasteur pipette. If required, reposition larvae using a gel loading pipette tip.Perform wounding. (Remove as much liquid as possible before injury to prevent larvae from slipping).After injury, replace the liquid in the well and use a P200 pipette to aspirate the injured larvae and return it to it's housing vessel immediately to prevent mortality.CitationIf you use the ZIP in your work, please acknowledge it using the following text and cite this repository and the original article:'The Zebrafish Injury Platform (ZIP) was used to support zebrafish larvae during unilateral wounding/longitudinal imaging.'