Validation of optogenetic approach to investigate fatigable weakness using a zebrafish model of congenital myasthenic syndrome

Abstract

Congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) are rare inherited diseases of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). There are 40 identified CMS genes, but many patients go without genetic diagnosis, which suggests new genes have yet to be discovered and characterised. Here, we describe an optogenetic approach to study fatigable muscle weakness and NMJ function in larval zebrafish to facilitate screening approaches for uncovering novel CMS genes. Using blue-light illumination of spinal motoneurons that express channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) to induce muscle contraction, we measure motor defects at the behavioural, synaptic, and genetic level through a novel behavioural assay, standard whole-cell electrophysiology of individual muscle fibers and a customized NMJ gene panel. We employ this approach in synaptotagmin-2 (syt2) morphant zebrafish, an identified CMS gene model, to validate its usefulness. Our customized optogenetic behavioural assay successfully demonstrates reduced, fatigable, locomotor response during repeated activation of spinal motoneurons. Whole-cell electrophysiology recordings of optogenetically-elicited endplate currents in muscle fibers reveal similarities to altered properties of NMJ function in syt2 morphants reported in other studies using the standard paired motoneuron-muscle electrophysiology technique. Finally, we develop a genetic panel of CMS and NMJ-related genes to characterize the expression landscape of syt2 morphants to elucidate potential pathomechanisms and novel therapeutic targets. We propose that this three-tiered approach successfully links behaviour, synaptic motor function, and genetic expression and can be used as a tool in the screening of novel genes associated with CMS.