Zebrafish models of cardiovascular disease
Despina Bournele1,2, Dimitris Beis3
1Zebrafish Disease Models Lab, Center for Clinical Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Biomedical Research Foundation Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Insights
Zebrafish models advance cardiovascular disease (CVD) research by identifying genetic causes and molecular mechanisms. This research explores novel drug therapies and cardiac regeneration insights for heart conditions.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical research
- Cardiovascular science
- Genetics
Background:
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading global cause of death.
- Key risk factors include hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and obesity.
- Research actively investigates CVD causes, prevention, and treatments, with numerous studies published weekly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore recent advances in identifying genetic causes and molecular mechanisms of CVDs.
- To investigate novel therapeutic drugs for cardiovascular diseases.
- To highlight the utility of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model organism in CVD research.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a high-throughput, low-cost model organism.
- Employing forward and reverse genetics approaches.
- Conducting noninvasive in vivo imaging for cardiovascular phenotype analysis.
- Performing functional verification of candidate genes identified through genome-wide association studies.
Main Results:
- Zebrafish models facilitate understanding of CVD pathogenesis and testing of new therapies.
- Genome-wide association studies and functional verification have identified several genes involved in CVD pathophysiology.
- Zebrafish exhibit lifelong cardiac regeneration capabilities, offering insights into human cardiac repair.
Conclusions:
- Zebrafish are a valuable tool for high-throughput genetic and drug screening in cardiovascular research.
- This model aids in elucidating the genetic underpinnings and molecular pathways of cardiovascular diseases.
- Zebrafish research provides novel perspectives on cardiac regeneration and potential therapeutic strategies for CVDs.
Abstract:
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The most significant risk factors associated with the development of heart diseases include genetic and environmental factors such as hypertension, high blood cholesterol levels, diabetes, smoking, and obesity. Coronary artery disease accounts for the highest percentage of CVD deaths and stroke, cardiomyopathies, congenital heart diseases, heart valve defects and arrhythmias follow. The causes, prevention, and treatment of all forms of cardiovascular disease remain active fields of biomedical research, with hundreds of scientific studies published on a weekly basis. Generating animal models of cardiovascular diseases is the main approach used to understand the mechanism of pathogenesis and also design and test novel therapies. Here, we will focus on recent advances to finding the genetic cause and the molecular mechanisms of CVDs as well as novel drugs to treat them, using a small tropical freshwater fish native to Southeast Asia: the zebrafish (Danio rerio). Zebrafish emerged as a high-throughput but low-cost model organism that combines the advantages of forward and reverse genetics with phenotype-driven drug screenings. Noninvasive imaging allows in vivo analyses of cardiovascular phenotypes. Functional verification of candidate genes from genome-wide association studies has verified the role of several genes in the pathophysiology of CVDs. Also, zebrafish hearts maintain their ability to regenerate throughout their lifetime, providing novel insights to understand human cardiac regeneration.
