We report characterization of a null mutant for zebrafish circadian clock gene period2 (per2) generated by Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nuclease (TALEN) and a positive role of PER2 in vertebrate circadian regulation. Locomotor experiments showed that per2 mutant zebrafish display reduced activities under LD (light-dark) and 2-hour phase delay under DD (constant darkness), and quantitat...

Pathologic angiogenesis has emerged as an important therapeutic target in several major diseases. Zebrafish offer the potential for high-throughput drug discovery in a whole vertebrate system. We developed the first quantitative, automated assay for antiangiogenic compound identification using zebrafish embryos. This assay uses transgenic zebrafish with fluorescent blood vessels to facilitate i...

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has been developed as a powerful model for genetic studies in developmental biology, which also gives insights into several diseases of adult humans such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Because aging processes affect these and many other human diseases, it is important to compare zebrafish and other mammalian aging. However, the aging process of zebrafish remai...

During the past decade, the zebrafish has emerged as a leading model for mechanistic cancer research because of its sophisticated genetic and genomic resources, its tractability for tissue targeting of transgene expression, its efficiency for forward genetic approaches to cancer model development, and its cost effectiveness for enhancer and suppressor screens once a cancer model is established....

Previously three oncogene transgenic zebrafish lines with inducible expression of xmrk, kras or Myc in the liver have been generated and these transgenic lines develop oncogene-addicted liver tumors upon chemical induction. In the current study, comparative transcriptomic approaches were used to examine the correlation of the three induced transgenic liver cancers with human liver cancers. RNA ...

BACKGROUND Investigating gonadal gene expression is important in attempting to elucidate the molecular mechanism of sex determination and differentiation in the model species zebrafish. However, the small size of juvenile zebrafish and correspondingly their gonads complicates this type of investigation. Furthermore, the lack of a genetic sex marker in juvenile zebrafish prevents pooling gonads ...

In an era of high-throughput "omic" technologies, the unprecedented amount of data that can be generated presents a significant opportunity but simultaneously an even greater challenge for oncologists trying to provide personalized treatment. Classically, preclinical testing of new targets and identification of active compounds against those targets have entailed the extensive use of establishe...

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are used extensively in sleep research; both to further understanding of sleep in general and also as a model of human sleep. To date, sleep studies have been performed in larval and adult zebrafish but no efforts have been made to document the ontogeny of zebrafish sleep-wake cycles. Because sleep differs across phylogeny and ontogeny it is important to validate the use...

The adult zebrafish has been used to model the electrocardiogram (ECG) for human cardiovascular studies. Nonetheless huge variations are observed among studies probably because of the lack of a reliable and reproducible recording method. In our study, an adult zebrafish surface ECG recording technique was improved using a multi-electrode method and by pre-opening the pericardial sac. A convenie...

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is now the pre-eminent vertebrate model system for clarification of the roles of specific genes and signaling pathways in development. The zebrafish genome will be completely sequenced within the next 1-2 years. Together with the substantial historical database regarding basic developmental biology, toxicology, and gene transfer, the rich foundation of molecular gene...