PUBLICATION

Small teleost fish provide new insights into human skeletal diseases

Authors
Witten, P.E., Harris, M.P., Huysseune, A., Winkler, C.
ID
ZDB-PUB-170129-16
Date
2017
Source
Methods in cell biology   138: 321-346 (Chapter)
Registered Authors
Harris, Matthew, Huysseune, Ann, Winkler, Christoph, Witten, P. Eckhard
Keywords
Bone, Cartilage, Chondrocytes, Genome editing, Medaka, Osteoblasts, Osteoclasts, Osteoporosis, Teeth, Zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified/genetics
  • Animals, Genetically Modified/growth & development
  • Bone Development/genetics
  • Bone Diseases, Developmental/genetics*
  • Bone Diseases, Developmental/physiopathology
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems/genetics
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Humans
  • Molecular Biology/methods*
  • Oryzias/genetics*
  • Oryzias/growth & development
  • Regeneration/genetics
  • Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases/genetics
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
  • Zebrafish/growth & development
PubMed
28129851 Full text @ Meth. Cell. Biol.
Abstract
Small teleost fish such as zebrafish and medaka are increasingly studied as models for human skeletal diseases. Efficient new genome editing tools combined with advances in the analysis of skeletal phenotypes provide new insights into fundamental processes of skeletal development. The skeleton among vertebrates is a highly conserved organ system, but teleost fish and mammals have evolved unique traits or have lost particular skeletal elements in each lineage. Several unique features of the skeleton relate to the extremely small size of early fish embryos and the small size of adult fish used as models. A detailed analysis of the plethora of interesting skeletal phenotypes in zebrafish and medaka pushes available skeletal imaging techniques to their respective limits and promotes the development of new imaging techniques. Impressive numbers of zebrafish and medaka mutants with interesting skeletal phenotypes have been characterized, complemented by transgenic zebrafish and medaka lines. The advent of efficient genome editing tools, such as TALEN and CRISPR/Cas9, allows to introduce targeted deficiencies in genes of model teleosts to generate skeletal phenotypes that resemble human skeletal diseases. This review will also discuss other attractive aspects of the teleost skeleton. This includes the capacity for lifelong tooth replacement and for the regeneration of dermal skeletal elements, such as scales and fin rays, which further increases the value of zebrafish and medaka models for skeletal research.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping