Movie 2.
Xylazine treatment causes keratinocyte extrusion and tissue-wide contraction. Zebrafish larvae were mounted in a zWEDGI restraining device in E3 with 0.2 mg/mL tricaine and imaged by brightfield microscopy for 5 minutes, at which time xylazine (bottom panel) or an equal volume of RO water (top panel) was dripped into the chamber to a final volume of 5 mg/mL xylazine. Note the keratinocyte extrusion events that occur between 3-10 minutes post-treatment with xylazine and the tissue-wide tail contraction that occurs throughout the movie. Scale bars = 200 μm.
Evidence that xylazine disrupts skin homeostasis by acting on epithelial cells through the kappa opioid receptor
Disease Models and Mechanisms 2026. 19:None-None; doi: 10.1242/dmm.052600