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 adult stage indicate that miR-204 overexpression accelerates the development of BRAFV600E-driven melanoma. miniCoopR-I allows to study 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.