Inducible modulation of miR-204 levels in a zebrafish melanoma model

Here, we present miniCoopR-I, an inducible upgrade of the constitutive miniCoopR vector. We developed miniCoopR-I-sponge-204 and miniCoopR-I-pre-miR-204 vectors and we successfully tested them for their ability to achieve time- (embryo/juvenile/adult) and space- (melanocytic lineage) restricted inhibition/overexpression of miR-204, a positive modulator of pigmentation previously discovered by us. Furthermore, melanoma-free survival curves performed on induced fish at the adult stage indicate that miR-204 overexpression accelerates the development of BRAFV600E-driven melanoma. miniCoopR-I allows study of the impact that coding and non-coding modulators of pigmentation exert on melanomagenesis in adult zebrafish, uncoupling it from the impact that they exert on melanogenesis during embryonic development. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.