Research proceedings on amphibian model organisms

Dongwuxue Yanjiu. 2016 Jul 18;37(4):237-45. doi: 10.13918/j.issn.2095-8137.2016.4.237.

Abstract

Model organisms have long been important in biology and medicine due to their specific characteristics. Amphibians, especially Xenopus, play key roles in answering fundamental questions on developmental biology, regeneration, genetics, and toxicology due to their large and abundant eggs, as well as their versatile embryos, which can be readily manipulated and developed in vivo. Furthermore, amphibians have also proven to be of considerable benefit in human disease research due to their conserved cellular developmental and genomic organization. This review gives a brief introduction on the progress and limitations of these animal models in biology and human disease research, and discusses the potential and challenge of Microhyla fissipes as a new model organism.

Keywords: Amphibian; Biomedicine; Life Science; Microhyla fissipes; Model organism.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Amphibians* / genetics
  • Amphibians* / growth & development
  • Amphibians* / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Cell Cycle
  • Humans
  • Models, Animal*
  • Regeneration
  • Research Design*
  • Toxicology

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a grant from the Key Programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJZD-EW-L13), 2015 Western Light Talent Culture Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y6C3021), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31471964).