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Adult zebrafish in CNS disease modeling: a tank that's half-full, not half-empty, and still filling

Lab Animal volume 46, pages 378–387 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is increasingly used in a broad array of biomedical studies, from cancer research to drug screening. Zebrafish also represent an emerging model organism for studying complex brain diseases. The number of zebrafish neuroscience studies is exponentially growing, significantly outpacing those conducted with rodents or other model organisms. Yet, there is still a substantial amount of resistance in adopting zebrafish as a first-choice model system. Studies of the repertoire of zebrafish neural and behavioral functions continue to reveal new opportunities for understanding the pathobiology of various CNS deficits. Although some of these models are well established in zebrafish, including models for anxiety, depression, and addiction, others are less recognized, for example, models of autism and obsessive-compulsive states. However, mounting data indicate that a wide spectrum of CNS diseases can be modeled in adult zebrafish. Here, we summarize recent findings using zebrafish CNS assays, discuss model limitations and the existing challenges, as well as outline future directions of research in this field.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research grant 16-04-00851 to A.V.K. He is the Chair of the International Zebrafish Neuroscience Research Consortium (ZNRC), and current President of the International Stress and Behavior Society (ISBS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Darya A Meshalkina, Elana V Kysil & Konstantin A Demin

  2. The International Zebrafish Neuroscience Research Consortium (ZNRC), Slidell, Louisiana, USA

    Darya A Meshalkina, Jason E Warnick & Konstantin A Demin

  3. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, Arkansas, USA

    Jason E Warnick

  4. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

    Allan V Kalueff

  5. Laboratory of Biological Psychiatry, ITBM, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Allan V Kalueff

  6. Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia

    Allan V Kalueff

  7. ZENEREI Research Center, Slidell, Louisiana, USA

    Allan V Kalueff

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  1. Darya A Meshalkina
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Correspondence to Allan V Kalueff.

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Meshalkina, D., Kysil, E., Warnick, J. et al. Adult zebrafish in CNS disease modeling: a tank that's half-full, not half-empty, and still filling. Lab Anim 46, 378–387 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.1345

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