The Zebrafish as a Model for Ocular Translational Research: From Retinal Repair to Regeneration

In the last years, the zebrafish model has become a primary model system for vertebrate tissue regeneration, particularly for neurodegeneration and metabolic disease. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are small freshwater teleosts valued for disease modelling, which are widely used in genetic laboratories, as a key model for studying neurodegenerative, metabolic, cardiac and dystrophic diseases, supporting the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets and approaches. Zebrafish can proliferate and produce/regenerate neurons. In response to retinal injury, zebrafish can regenerate multiple classes of retinal neurons and particularly, Müller glia-derived progenitor cells (MGPCs) can regenerate all types of neurons and restore visual function upon injury. The Jak/Stat-pathway of zebrafish retina represents one of the cell-signalling pathways involved in reprogramming Müller glia into MGPCs. In this era characterized by a revolution in experimental models and the future of omics, zebrafish might represent a suitable animal model for studying retinal degeneration and regeneration. In this context, the review is not meant to be entirely comprehensive of the zebrafish field, but it will highlight the usefulness of this model in discovering some mechanisms underlying retinal repair and regeneration.