Extracellular Matrix Remodeling in Zebrafish Development

The importance of extracellular matrix proteins in the development of chick, frog, and mouse embryos has been recognized for decades. Accordingly, with the emergence of zebrafish as a genetic and developmental model system, there has been a steady increase in the number of studies showing developmental roles for matrix proteins, their receptors, and their modifying enzymes. The goal of this chapter is to highlight some of the extracellular matrix and interacting proteins present in the developing zebrafish embryo and discuss examples of morphogenetic processes requiring extracellular matrix protein expression, assembly, and turnover.