Fig. 6

Fig. 6. Schematic diagrams of the prospective studies of HtrA2 using the HtrA2-zebrafish model system. Maintaining homeostasis from the molecular to organismic level plays a crucial role in determining the survival and death of cells and even organisms. The zebrafish system can be used to quantitatively manipulate and analyze the expression of the specific target gene (e.g. HtrA2) by injecting a wide range of known amounts of the target MO or mRNA into zebrafish embryos. Remarkably, since pro-zHtrA2 containing MTS and (M)-zHtrA2 are localized in the mitochondria and cytosol, respectively, these characteristics of HtrA2 are helpful for studying how the quantitative changes of HtrA2 in the mitochondria or cytosol play an essential role in regulating the balance between the death and survival of cells and organisms. The studies using the HtrA2-zebrafish model system may provide important insights on the molecular pathogenesis of the diseases caused by the dysregulation of the balance between death and survival, i.e., cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, and the potential therapeutic strategies. M and D indicate month and day, respectively.