Zebrafish-based systems pharmacology of cancer metastasis

Methods Mol Biol. 2014:1165:223-38. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-0856-1_15.

Abstract

Because of their small size, high fecundity, and commonality to human genetics and genomics, phenotype-based animal testing using zebrafish (Danio rerio) has emerged as a powerful tool for identifying disease mechanisms, drug target molecules and small bioactive compounds over the last decade. Importantly, the immaturity of the zebrafish larvae immune system compared with that of mammals facilitates the implantation of human tumors representing aggressive cancer progression with metastasis. In the current chapter, we describe the methods for human cancer cell xenotransplantation into zebrafish, phenotypic image analysis, and transcriptome analysis using deep sequencing.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic
  • Computational Biology
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / methods*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Humans
  • Molecular Imaging
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Zebrafish*

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes