Open AccessSmall molecule screening in zebrafish: swimming in potential drug therapies
Author(s) -
Tamplin Owen J.,
White Richard M.,
Jing Lili,
Kaufman Charles K.,
Lacadie Scott A.,
Li Pulin,
Taylor Alison M.,
Zon Leonard I.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: developmental biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.779
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1759-7692
pISSN - 1759-7684
DOI - 10.1002/wdev.37
Subject(s) - zebrafish , drug , drug discovery , computational biology , small molecule , pharmacology , medicine , chemistry , biology , bioinformatics , genetics , gene
Phenotype‐driven chemical genetic screens in zebrafish have become a proven approach for both dissection of developmental mechanisms and discovery of potential therapeutics. A library of small molecules can be arrayed into multiwell plates containing zebrafish embryos. The embryo becomes a whole organism in vivo bioassay that can produce a phenotype upon treatment. Screens have been performed that are based simply on the morphology of the embryo. Other screens have scored complex phenotypes using whole mount in situ hybridization, fluorescent transgenic reporters, and even tracking of embryo movement. The availability of many well‐characterized zebrafish mutants has also enabled the discovery of chemical suppressors of genetic phenotypes. Importantly, the application of chemical libraries that already contain FDA‐approved drugs has allowed the rapid translation of hits from zebrafish chemical screens to clinical trials. WIREs Dev Biol 2012, 1:459–468. doi: 10.1002/wdev.37 This article is categorized under: Technologies > Perturbing Genes and Generating Modified Animals