Zebrafish in Cardiovascular Disease Research: from Model to Application

Area of Science:

• Comparative biology
• Cardiovascular research
• Model organism development

Background:

• Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading global health concern with complex pathophysiology.
• Traditional mammalian and in vitro models have limitations in fully recapitulating CVDs.
• Zebrafish present a promising alternative model system for studying cardiovascular disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the advantages of zebrafish in cardiovascular disease (CVD) research.
• To demonstrate the utility of zebrafish in modeling human CVDs and facilitating drug discovery.
• To underscore the value of zebrafish in advancing therapeutic development for CVDs.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing zebrafish for high-throughput screening due to their small size, high fecundity, and rapid development.
• Employing embryonic transparency for real-time, noninvasive imaging of cardiac processes.
• Leveraging genetic homology and facile genetic manipulation for modeling cardiovascular disorders and regeneration studies.

Main Results:

• Zebrafish models have successfully recapitulated key features of human CVDs, aiding mechanistic investigations.
• The transparency and genetic tractability of zebrafish enable efficient phenotypic screening.
• Zebrafish have proven valuable in early-stage drug discovery and cardiotoxicity assessment.

Conclusions:

• Zebrafish offer a powerful, cost-efficient platform for cardiovascular research, combining genetic tractability, phenotypic fidelity, and screening efficiency.
• Their utility extends from mechanistic studies and pathway identification to drug discovery and cardiotoxicity assessment.
• Zebrafish represent a significant advancement in developing new therapies for cardiovascular diseases.