scholarly journals The Importance of Zebrafish in Biomedical Research

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 583
Author(s):  
Bárbara Tavares ◽  
Susana Santos Lopes

Introduction: Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an ideal model organism for the study of vertebrate development. This is due to the large clutches that each couple produces, with up to 200 embryos every 7 days, and to the fact that the embryos and larvae are small, transparent and undergo rapid external development.Material and Methods: Using scientific literature research tools available online and the keywords Zebrafish, biomedical research, human disease, and drug screening, we reviewed original studies and reviews indexed in PubMed.Results: In this review we summarized work conducted with this model for the advancement of our knowledge related to several human diseases. We also focused on the biomedical research being performed in Portugal with the zebrafish model.Discussion: Powerful live imaging and genetic tools are currently available for zebrafish making it a valuable model in biomedicalresearch. The combination of these properties with the optimization of automated systems for drug screening has transformed the zebrafish into a “top model” in biomedical research, drug discovery and toxicity testing. Furthermore, with the optimization of xenografts technology it will be possible to use zebrafish to aide in the choice of the best therapy for each patient.Conclusion: Zebrafish is an excellent model organism in biomedical research, drug development and in clinical therapy.

Author(s):  
Thomas F. Scherr ◽  
Gerald Knapp ◽  
Terrence Tiersch ◽  
W. Todd Monroe ◽  
Krishnaswamy Nandakumar

The freshwater fish, Danio rerio (zebrafish), have become widely used as a model organism for vertebrate development, DNA mutation, and human disease studies [1]. Maintaining live colonies of the numerous developed strains of zebrafish under investigation can be prohibitively costly. As such, there is a growing need to catalog their reproductive cells and have them available on demand [2]. Thus cryopreservation of model strain gametes has become an important endeavor, where evaluation of freezing and thawing techniques is currently a bottleneck to these procedures.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1064
Author(s):  
Manuela Mauro ◽  
Valentina Lazzara ◽  
Vincenzo Arizza ◽  
Claudio Luparello ◽  
Vincenzo Ferrantelli ◽  
...  

To date, drug pollution in aquatic systems is an urgent issue, and Danio rerio is a model organism to study the toxicological effects of environmental pollutants. The scientific literature has analyzed the effect of human drug pollution on the biochemical responses in the tissues of D. rerio adults. However, the information is still scarce and conflicting, making it difficult to understand its real impact. The scientific studies are not consistent with each other and, until now, no one has grouped their results to create a baseline of knowledge of the possible impacts. In this review, the analysis of literature data highlights that the effects of drugs on adult zebrafishes depend on various factors, such as the tissue analyzed, the drug concentration and the sex of the individuals. Furthermore, the most influenced biochemical responses concern enzymes (e.g., antioxidants and hydrolase enzymes) and total protein and hormonal levels. Pinpointing the situation to date would improve the understanding of the chronic effects of human drug pollution, helping both to reduce it in the aquatic systems and then to draw up regulations to control this type of pollution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 222-228
Author(s):  
И.В. Яминский ◽  
А.И. Ахметова

Разработка высокоэффективных режимов быстродействующего сканирующего зондового микроскопа, в первую очередь атомно-силовой и сканирующей капиллярной микроскопии, представляет особый интерес для успешного проведения биомедицинских исследований: изучения биологических процессов и морфологии биополимеров, определения антибио­тикорезистентности бактерий, адресной доставки биомакромолекул, скринингу лекарств, раннему обнаружению биологических агентов (вирусов и бактерий) и др. The development of highly efficient modes of a high-speed scanning probe microscope, primarily atomic force and scanning capillary microscopy, is of particular interest for successful biomedical research: studying biological processes and the morphology of biopolymers, determining antibiotic resistance of bacteria, targeted delivery of biomacromolecules, drug screening, early detection agents (viruses and bacteria), etc.


1990 ◽  
Vol 18 (1_part_1) ◽  
pp. 65-74
Author(s):  
John M. Frazier ◽  
Alan M. Goldberg

Biomedical endeavours can be divided into three major categories: research, education, and testing. Within the context of each of these categories, activities involving whole animals have made major contributions and will continue to do so in the future. However, with technological developments in the areas of biotechnology and computers, new methods are already reducing the use of whole animals in certain areas. This article discusses the general issues of alternatives and then focuses on the development of new approaches to toxicity testing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 916
Author(s):  
Huan Zhang ◽  
Srutha Venkatesan ◽  
Beiyan Nan

A fundamental question in biology is how cell shapes are genetically encoded and enzymatically generated. Prevalent shapes among walled bacteria include spheres and rods. These shapes are chiefly determined by the peptidoglycan (PG) cell wall. Bacterial division results in two daughter cells, whose shapes are predetermined by the mother. This makes it difficult to explore the origin of cell shapes in healthy bacteria. In this review, we argue that the Gram-negative bacterium Myxococcus xanthus is an ideal model for understanding PG assembly and bacterial morphogenesis, because it forms rods and spheres at different life stages. Rod-shaped vegetative cells of M. xanthus can thoroughly degrade their PG and form spherical spores. As these spores germinate, cells rebuild their PG and reestablish rod shape without preexisting templates. Such a unique sphere-to-rod transition provides a rare opportunity to visualize de novo PG assembly and rod-like morphogenesis in a well-established model organism.


Acta Naturae ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-29
Author(s):  
I. V. Mizgirev ◽  
D. R. Safina ◽  
I. V. Demidyuk ◽  
S. V. Kostrov

Development and implementation of adequate organism-level models is one of the key elements in biomedical research that focuses on experimental oncology. Over the last decade, studies using Zebrafish (Danio rerio) have gained in popularity in this area of research. This review describes the various approaches that have been used in developing highly effective models for oncological (clinical term, better cancer or tumor) studies based on D. rerio. Priority is given to transplantation models of cancer and their application to optically transparent D. rerio lines, including clonal ones, and utilization tumors of various origins bearing fluorescent labels. The combination of tumor transplantation at organism-level models in transparent clonal D. rerio lines with fluorescent microscopy, FACS-fractionation of tumor cell subsets, and transcription analysis can result in one of the most promising research approaches in providing new information on tumor formation and growth.


mBio ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth M. Bik ◽  
Arturo Casadevall ◽  
Ferric C. Fang

ABSTRACT Inaccurate data in scientific papers can result from honest error or intentional falsification. This study attempted to determine the percentage of published papers that contain inappropriate image duplication, a specific type of inaccurate data. The images from a total of 20,621 papers published in 40 scientific journals from 1995 to 2014 were visually screened. Overall, 3.8% of published papers contained problematic figures, with at least half exhibiting features suggestive of deliberate manipulation. The prevalence of papers with problematic images has risen markedly during the past decade. Additional papers written by authors of papers with problematic images had an increased likelihood of containing problematic images as well. As this analysis focused only on one type of data, it is likely that the actual prevalence of inaccurate data in the published literature is higher. The marked variation in the frequency of problematic images among journals suggests that journal practices, such as prepublication image screening, influence the quality of the scientific literature.


Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoshana Reich ◽  
Daniel C. Weinstein

During vertebrate embryogenesis, precise regulation of gene expression is crucial for proper cell fate determination. Much of what we know about vertebrate development has been gleaned from experiments performed on embryos of the amphibian Xenopus laevis; this review will focus primarily on studies of this model organism. An early critical step during vertebrate development is the formation of the three primary germ layers—ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm—which emerge during the process of gastrulation. While much attention has been focused on the induction of mesoderm and endoderm, it has become clear that differentiation of the ectoderm involves more than the simple absence of inductive cues; rather, it additionally requires the inhibition of mesendoderm-promoting genes. This review aims to summarize our current understanding of the various inhibitors of inappropriate gene expression in the presumptive ectoderm.


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