PUBLICATION

Generation of Zebrafish Larval Xenografts and Tumor Behavior Analysis

Authors
Martinez-Lopez, M., Póvoa, V., Fior, R.
ID
ZDB-PUB-210706-13
Date
2021
Source
Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE   (172): (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Heterografts
  • Humans
  • Larva
  • Neoplasms*
  • Transplantation, Heterologous
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
  • Zebrafish*
PubMed
34223839 Full text @ J. Vis. Exp.
Abstract
Zebrafish larval xenografts are being widely used for cancer research to perform in vivo and real-time studies of human cancer. The possibility of rapidly visualizing the response to anti-cancer therapies (chemo, radiotherapy, and biologicals), angiogenesis and metastasis with single cell resolution, places the zebrafish xenograft model as a top choice to develop preclinical studies. The zebrafish larval xenograft assay presents several experimental advantages compared to other models, but probably the most striking is the reduction of size scale and consequently time. This reduction of scale allows single cell imaging, the use of a relatively low number of human cells (compatible with biopsies), medium-high-throughput drug screenings, but most importantly enables a significant reduction of the time of the assay. All these advantages make the zebrafish xenograft assay extremely attractive for future personalized medicine applications. Many zebrafish xenograft protocols have been developed with a wide diversity of human tumors; however, a general and standardized protocol to efficiently generate zebrafish larval xenografts is still lacking. Here we provide a step-by-step protocol, with tips to generate xenografts and guidelines for tumor behavior analysis, whole-mount immunofluorescence, and confocal imaging quantification.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping