Colorimetric and fluorescent TRAP assays for visualising and quantifying fish osteoclast activity

Histochemical detection of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity is a fundamental technique for visualizing osteoclastic bone resorption and assessing osteoclast activity status in tissues. This approach has mostly employed colorimetric detection, which has limited quantification of ac...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ethiraj, Lalith Prabha, Fong, Samuel En Lei, Liu, Ranran, Chan, Madelynn, Winkler, Christoph, Carney, Tom James
Other Authors: Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/163218
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:Histochemical detection of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity is a fundamental technique for visualizing osteoclastic bone resorption and assessing osteoclast activity status in tissues. This approach has mostly employed colorimetric detection, which has limited quantification of activity in situ and co-labelling with other skeletal markers. Here we report simple colorimetric and fluorescent TRAP assays in zebrafish and medaka, two important model organisms for investigating the pathogenesis of bone disorders. We show fluorescent TRAP staining, utilising the ELF97 substrate, is a rapid, robust and stable system to visualise and quantify osteoclast activity in zebrafish, and is compatible with other fluorescence stains, transgenic lines and antibody approaches. Using this approach, we show that TRAP activity is predominantly found around the base of the zebrafish pharyngeal teeth, where osteoclast activity state appears to be heterogeneous.