Microglial Activation by Genetically Targeted Conditional Neuronal Ablation in the Zebrafish

In neurodegenerative diseases activation of immune cells is thought to play a major role. Microglia are the main immune cells of the central nervous system. When encountering disease related stimuli microglia adopt an activated phenotype that typically includes a rounded morphology. The exact role of microglia or other potentially infiltrating myeloid cells in different brain diseases is not fully understood. In this chapter we present techniques in zebrafish to induce degeneration of neurons, to activate the microglia, and to study activation phenotypes by immunohistochemistry and in vivo by fluorescence microscopic imaging.