Alternatively, these variants may occur in only a very small proportion of the population, since any deleterious genetic variant of major effect will have been selected against during evolution, or the variant may be recently occurring and thus not present in many individuals. Often a patient’s DNA is sequenced in order to find a mutation in a gene that could potentially cause his or her disease symptoms. Therefore, experimental animal models of CVD have become essential tools for analyzing the pathogenesis, developing drug screening, and testing potential therapeutic strategies. For a patient with a neurological disease, the neurons of knock-out embryos can be fluorescently labeled to see if they form incorrectly. Tuesday, August 9, 2016. The ability of zebrafish to generate many embryos every time they breed makes them especially useful for high throughput drug screening. Furthermore, zebrafish embryos are clear, which allows scientists to watch the fertilized eggs grow into fully formed baby fish under a microscope. Or if the patient’s disease symptoms began during development in utero, knock-out or knock-in zebrafish embryos can be examined for gene expression changes (compared to embryos without the mutation) that could lead to abnormal development. Less intrusive techniques minimise animal suffering. The one-cell-stage fertilized eggs can be easily injected with DNA or RNA to permanently modify their genetic makeup in order to generate transgenic or knock-out zebrafish lines. Zebrafish offspring also grow and develop very quickly. This FOA encourages investigator-initiated applications designed to exploit the power of the zebrafish as a vertebrate model for biomedical and behavioral research. While mice have been the predominant animal bridge between the bench and bedside in the past, recent studies have demonstrated the potential of zebrafish to serve as a tractable alternative to mice. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a fresh water fish that inhabits rivers in India, Pakistan and other places in Asia. Recently, Zebrafish has sparked interest in other branches of the biomedical research because of its emerging potential for drug discovery in various disease models. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), National Medal of Technology & Innovation, Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, Advancing Computational and Structural Biology, Uncovering New Opportunities for Natural Products, Unlocking the Potential of RNA Biology and Therapeutics, Assistant Clinical Investigator in Neurogenetics, Tenure-Track/Tenure-Eligible Investigator, NCI-DCEG, Nurturing the Next Generation of Clinical Researchers, 70% of human genes are found in zebrafish, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3484855/, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3348545/, Little Fish in a Big Pond Reveal New Answers to Old Questions, Innovation Awards Spark New Intramural Collaborations, A Multi-Front Effort to Combat Coronavirus, IRP’s Luigi Notarangelo Elected to National Academy of Medicine, IRP’s Michael Lenardo Elected to National Academy of Sciences. Many structural, functional and developmental similarities exist between zebrafish and human retinas, providing researchers with an excellent model to study human vision. Zebrafish produce hundreds of offspring at weekly intervals providing scientists with an ample … Zebrafish are tropical fresh-water fish in the minnow family. Due to their small size and the relatively simple nature of … As a result, they require much less space and are cheaper to maintain than mice. Biomedical researchers are taking advantage of the vast amount of genetic information available in public databases, and in medical records, to explore the causes of human disease and gain insight to help the development of novel, as well as personalised, treatments. In addition to utilizing zebrafish disease models to characterize human diseases, researchers can also identify and test new drugs to treat the diseases being modeled. Due to the conservation of cell biological and developmental processes across all vertebrates, studies in fish can give great insight into human disease processes. Some of these reasons are outlined below: Zebrafish are vertebrates and therefore share a high degree of sequence and functional homology with mammals, including humans. Research often utilizes patients’ cells or tissue samples, but to determine if a mutation in a specific gene can cause a patient’s symptoms, we often need experimental animal models. This FOA encourages investigator-initiated NIH Research Project Grant (R01) applications designed to exploit the power of the zebrafish as a vertebrate model for biomedical and behavioral research. McCutcheon V (1) (2), Park E (2), Liu E (2), Wang Y (2), Wen XY (1) (2) (3) (4), Baker AJ (1) (2) (5) (6). But, there are also purely scientific reasons why ‘lower’ organisms, such as zebrafish, can create a better model system. In vitro fertilization can be performed if necessary. A recent study conducted by the University of Alberta suggests that the cannabis compounds THC and CBD may have negative effects on the development of the nervous system. Dr Caroline Brennan, from Queen Mary University of London, tells the NC3Rs the top five reasons why zebrafish are her model of choice. Add to this the wide range of environmental conditions that may impact on the disease occurrence, and the reluctance of individuals to be subjected to breeding schemes, and you can see why identification of disease causing alleles from human studies is problematic, despite vast amounts of sequence data. Zebrafish potential for EDA application Zebrafish in EDA-relevant research areas. In the past two decades, Zebrafish has become one of the preferred in vivo model organisms for studying diverse processes like regeneration , embryogenesis [9, 10], autophagy , behaviour [12, 13] and sleep. Their transparency also enables the visualization of fluorescently labeled tissues in transgenic zebrafish embryos. Recent research from Imran et al. Zebrafish embryos are also laid and fertilized externally, which allows them to be easily manipulated in a variety of ways. Zebrafish embryos and larvae are completely transparent, meaning that it is possible to follow the impact of a genetic manipulation or pharmacological treatment using non-invasive imaging techniques. Get monthly updates in your inbox from the NC3Rs on funding opportunities, events and publications. His research was long based on the larvae of fruitfly, but the lab recently started using zebrafish larvae. The name “zebrafish” comes from the horizontal blue stripes on each side of their bodies. The lab has also initiated a study in collaboration … The University of Mississippi has also had success with Zebrafish studies, using the fish to identify mistletoe and its inherent compounds as a potential treatment for epilepsy. Zebrafish are able to withstand much higher levels of chemical mutagens than can be tolerated by rodents so it is possible to induce a much higher density of mutations in their genome. For example, to date all proteins studied have a similar function in fish and mammals. Human melanoma has also been successfully modeled in zebrafish. Although possible in rodents, forward genetic screening is far easier in zebrafish and, as highlighted above, there is a strong scientific and moral case for the zebrafish model. A trio of researchers, two with the University of Calgary, the other McMaster University, has found that vaping has the potential of impacting prenatal brain development in zebrafish. Tallafuss A(1), Gibson D, Morcos P, Li Y, Seredick S, Eisen J, Washbourne P. Author information: (1)Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. In recent decades, zebrafish has entered the field of CVD as an important model organism. Recently, Zebrafish has sparked interest in other branches of the biomedical research … The Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) is a Teleost fish, which offers several practical advantages concerning manipulation, maintenance and versatility as well as short life cycle, low cost and physiological similarity with most farmed species.Zebrafish have been used as model for several aquaculture‐relevant infectious agents, since the cost of infections to aquaculture can be great, … Many of the genes and critical pathways that are required to grow these features are highly conserved between humans and zebrafish. Although sometimes limited by the short efficacy period and confounding off-target effects (reviewed in Bedell et al., 2011), the use of morpholinos in zebrafish research, beginning at the turn of this century, tremendously accelerated zebrafish loss-of-function studies and solidified the relevance of investigating zebrafish orthologs of human disease genes. This is quite different from mice as they generally produce litters of one to 10 pups and can only bear approximately three litters in their lifetime. Zebrafish larva, the stage of development from between three and thirty days post-fertilization, grow in length from approximately 3.5 to 8 millimeters. Zebrafish embryos are able to absorb chemicals that have been added to their water, meaning it is easy to introduce changes to their genes using nothing more than chemical mutagens. 3.Impact of any genetic mutation or drug treatment is easy to see. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of global mortality, which has caused a huge burden on the quality of human life. Mouse embryos are not clear and develop inside the mother, so the observation of live embryo development like that in zebrafish is not possible. Images of a knock-in zebrafish that expresses the BRAF mutation alone (top) and one that was also injected with a transposon-based vector (miniCoopR) containing a mutant form of the gene SETDB1 (bottom). Scientific experiments are generally repeated multiple times in order to prove that the results are accurate, so having an animal that can produce a large number of offspring over and over is helpful. For instance, zebrafish with the mutated MYO18B gene can serve as a model for human myopathy. Market Study Report, LLC, has added a research study on Military Shelter market which offers a concise summary regarding market valuation, market share, regional spectrum, revenue estimation and SWOT analysis of this business vertical. Another advantage is that adult zebrafish breed readily (approximately every 10 days) and can produce as many as 50 to 300 eggs at a time. Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3348545/. When another commonly observed melanoma mutation of the gene SETDB1 was added to the BRAF knock-in zebrafish, a melanoma rapidly developed. Zebrafish constitutes an ideal model for this study since 1) they undergo rapid development, accomplishing primary organogenesis within 48 h post fertilization, 2) their ex utero development greatly facilitates monitoring abnormalities and examination of temporal windows of sensitivity to a stressor 3) RFR exposures of hundreds of embryos can be done uniformly in a multi-well plate inside a small … Additionally, zebrafish are not useful models for human diseases that mainly take place in a tissue type or body part that zebrafish do not have (e.g., prostate, mammary glands, lungs). (2018) using zebrafish larvae to test the involvement of membrane remodeling in hepatotoxicity showed that co-exposure of obese zebrafish larvae to benzo[a]pyrene and ethanol induced in vivo hepatotoxicity through membrane remodeling. Scientists use a variety of laboratory techniques to investigate the genetic cause of human diseases. Zebrafish have a much larger number of offspring in each generation than rodents. Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have been found to carry mutations in dystrophin and demonstrate childhood muscle weakness that gets progressively worse. While mice are evolutionarily more similar to humans because they are mammals, zebrafish have several advantages over their furry competitors. tallafuss@uoneuro.uoregon.edu Research often utilizes patients’ cells or tissue samples, but to determine if a mutation in a specific gene can cause a patient’s symptoms, we often need experimental animal models. Since cancers are caused by a combination of several genetic alterations, this knock-in zebrafish line was used to screen other potential cancer causing mutations. Ensuring a ready supply of animals for research is also easier with zebrafish. Not only does this add to the refinement of animal usage, it also minimises the number of animals that need to be used because it reduces the between subject variation that can be caused by stress. Zebrafish, so named due to their stripes, prefer to live in large groups called shoals. Does this surprise you? Human diseases caused by genes that do not exist in zebrafish require a different animal model. As the animals are reared in a controlled environment, variation due to environment is minimised. However, there is a limit on what types of diseases can be studied in zebrafish. In both humans and the zebrafish model, the loss of dystrophin gradually leads to necrotic muscle fibers that are replaced by inflammatory cells, fibrosis, and abnormally sized muscle fibers. Assuming that the exact mutation does not occur in humans, it is still likely that any variant in a gene that shows a strong phenotype in animal studies will contribute to the disease phenotype in humans. Moreover, zebrafish have two eyes, a mouth, brain, spinal cord, intestine, pancreas, liver, bile ducts, kidney, esophagus, heart, ear, nose, muscle, blood, bone, cartilage, and teeth. Although it is much more difficult to do, the exact mutation that the patient has can be introduced into zebrafish as well—this is called a “knock-in”. The small size and rapid development of the zebrafish make it a useful vertebrate model for assessing the potential effects of substances on growth and development using high-throughput screening methods (as reviewed in Planchart et al. Although no animal can perfectly model a human disease, I believe these little striped swimmers have great potential for advancing medical research in the future. Black phosphorus (BP) has extensive applications in various fields. Due to their small size and the relatively simple nature of their natural environment, it is easier to keep zebrafish in what appear to be more natural conditions than it is possible to simulate for mammals. Genetic research indicates high conservation between zebrafish and human genomes, making it an ideal model for generating biologically relevant in vivo information on a range of test material. Mouse embryos develop inside the mother, and to access and manipulate them the mother would have to be sacrificed. The addition of the SETB1 mutation resulted in melanoma (indicated by the arrow). In the wild, they are found in rivers and ponds of India, however they are now often available in pet shops. In particular, we outline recent genetic and technological developments allowing for in vivo examinations, high-throughput screening and whole-brain analyses in larval and adult zebrafish. Here in the NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program, we perform studies using zebrafish as one of several approaches to investigate the potential involvement of altered genes in our patients’ extremely rare diseases. The release of BP into aquatic ecosystems and the potential toxic effects on aquatic organisms are becoming major concerns. Easier to house and care for than rodents. According to the genome sequencing data, the zebrafish shares 70% genes with humans and more than 84% of genes that cause human genetic diseases are … Easier to house and care for than rodents. Rodents have 5-10 offspring per pairing, in comparison to the 200-300 obtained from fish. 2. Thus, any type of disease that causes changes in these body parts in humans could theoretically be modeled in zebrafish. We provide customized testing models and methods for a range of substances including extracts, complex mixtures and purified compounds. But this approach does have its limitations. Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3484855/. This figure shows visual differences in muscle between wild-type zebrafish larva (A, B, C) and distrophic larva (A’, B’, C’). This result led scientists to develop a therapy for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and associated risk factors. Turning gene function ON and OFF using sense and antisense photo-morpholinos in zebrafish. For the majority of human diseases, genetic variations that associate with disease are of very minor effect, meaning that vast amounts of sequencing data are required before one can assign statistical significance to an association, which is hugely time consuming and expensive. The tropical zebrafish is a popular aquarium fish, yet it is also an important vertebrate model organism in scientific research for studying developmental processes and human diseases. 2016).The embryonic zebrafish model has been used for this purpose in pharmaceutical development and in high-throughput screening programs at NTP … Other areas of study include Alzheimer’s , the endocannabinoid system, and opioid systems, especially in addiction and substance abuse. Zebrafish is a small fresh water fish that has been used for decades as a classical developmental biology research model (Streisinger et al., 1981; Kimmel, 1989). The invasive procedures avoided not only impact on welfare, but may also affect the experimental outcome, so the transparent nature of zebrafish larvae could also mean results are more accurate and easier to reproduce. New research on zebrafish could have interesting implications on humans and their use of cannabis. The timing of the adoption of zebrafish as an emerging model organism could not be better, as mouse studies often fail to translate to humans. Here, we investigated the developmental toxicity of few-layered BP toward the zebrafish. The generation of a knock-out of the dystrophin gene in zebrafish has been shown to closely resemble the severity and progression of the human disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Zebrafish Research and Biomedical Applications Zebrafish: From Basic Research to Drug Discovery. To determine if loss of function of that gene could cause the symptoms seen in the patient, the same gene is mutated or “knocked-out” in zebrafish, and then the fish are examined for similar symptoms. To learn more about how zebrafish contribute to biomedical science and human health, visit the websites for the Trans-NIH Zebrafish Initiative website and the NICHD Zebrafish Core. How do the benefits of using a zebrafish model apply to genetic research? While mice and rats have been common choices for modeling human diseases in the past, the use of zebrafish is rapidly gaining popularity. The NIH Zebrafish Core houses hundreds of thousands of zebrafish in a state-of-the-art facility. A Model of Excitotoxic Brain Injury in Larval Zebrafish: Potential Application for High-Throughput Drug Evaluation to Treat Traumatic Brain Injury. While mice and rats have been common choices for modeling human diseases in the past, the … The search for robust fear inducing stimuli in zebrafish research Zebrafish behavioral research has grown by leaps and bounds, and behavioral paradigms are being developed with the aim of better understanding mechanisms that might underlie aberrant behavioral phenotypes. If one or more of the patient’s symptoms are observed in the zebrafish knock-out or knock-in model, the zebrafish can be used for further studies to help determine why the mutation in that gene causes the disease. The application of the zebrafish model in EDA-related research areas was verified by search in WoS for the zebrafish terms as keywords in topic/all databases, followed by classification per research area (Figure 1). Let me explain. Those examples of how humans and zebrafish can manifest the same disease despite how different we appear make it is easy to understand why zebrafish are becoming a well-accepted animal model. When using animals in research, it is important to minimise animal suffering by using the least sentient organism possible to answer the question at hand. To keep the embryos alive after fertilizing or injecting them, they would need to be transplanted into another female mouse, as well. Working with mice in this way is much more complicated. We also summarize the application of these molecular techniques to the understanding of neuropsychiatric disease, outlining the potential of zebrafish for modeling complex brain disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity … The most commonly identified mutation in human melanomas—a single amino acid change in the gene BRAF—was created in zebrafish to make a knock-in model. For instance, the structure of the muscle fibers can be examined for abnormalities under the microscope if the patient has a muscle disease. Despite the growing interest in ‘big data’ approaches to studying the genetics of human disease, currently there is still a need to work in animal model systems. Random mutations are introduced into the genome and the offspring are screened for the phenotype of interest. These results helped to establish that SETDB1 is an important gene in melanoma growth. For many, zebrafish are becoming an increasingly popular choice of model. 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