Background and aims: Hepatocytes were the first cell-type for which oscillations of cytoplasmic calcium levels in response to hormones were described. Since then, investigation of calcium dynamics in liver explants and culture has greatly increased our understanding of calcium signaling. A bottleneck, however, exists in observing calcium dynamics in a non-invasive manner due to the optical inaccessibility of the mammalian liver. Here we aimed to take advantage of the transparency of the zebrafish larvae to image hepatocyte calcium dynamics in vivo at cellular resolution.

Approach and results: We develop a transgenic model expressing a calcium sensor, GCaMP6s, specifically in the zebrafish hepatocytes. Using this, we provide quantitative assessment of intracellular calcium dynamics during multiple contexts, including growth, feeding, ethanol-induced stress and cell ablation. Specifically, we show that synchronized calcium oscillations are present in vivo, which are lost upon starvation. Starvation induces lipid accumulation in the liver. Feeding recommences calcium waves in the liver, but in a spatially restricted manner, as well as resolves starvation-induced hepatic steatosis. By using a genetically encoded scavenger for calcium, we show that dampening of calcium signaling accelerates the accumulation of starvation-related lipid droplets in the liver. Further, ethanol treatment as well as cell ablation induces calcium flux, but with different dynamics. The former causes asynchronous calcium oscillations, while the latter leads to a single calcium spike.

Conclusions: We demonstrate the presence of oscillations, waves, and spikes in vivo. Calcium waves are present in response to nutrition, and negatively regulate starvation-induced accumulation of lipid droplets.