Zebrafish as a Model to Study Retinoic Acid Signaling in Development and Disease

Matthew R Hawkins; Rebecca A Wingert

doi:10.3390/biomedicines11041180

Zebrafish as a Model to Study Retinoic Acid Signaling in Development and Disease

Biomedicines. 2023 Apr 15;11(4):1180. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines11041180.

Authors

Matthew R Hawkins¹, Rebecca A Wingert¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Center for Zebrafish Research, Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases, Warren Center for Drug Discovery, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.

Abstract

Retinoic acid (RA) is a metabolite of vitamin A (retinol) that plays various roles in development to influence differentiation, patterning, and organogenesis. RA also serves as a crucial homeostatic regulator in adult tissues. The role of RA and its associated pathways are well conserved from zebrafish to humans in both development and disease. This makes the zebrafish a natural model for further interrogation into the functions of RA and RA-associated maladies for the sake of basic research, as well as human health. In this review, we explore both foundational and recent studies using zebrafish as a translational model for investigating RA from the molecular to the organismal scale.

Keywords: cancer; development; endoderm; heart; kidney; neurogenesis; regeneration; retinoic acid; vitamin A; zebrafish.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This research was funded by funds from the University of Notre Dame College of Science (to R.A.W.) and a University of Notre Dame Graduate School Arthur J. Schmitt Leadership Fellowship (to M.R.H.). We are deeply grateful to the Gallagher family, most especially Elizabeth and Michael Gallagher, for their generous gift to the University of Notre Dame that enables the ongoing support for novel stem cell research. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.