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Zebrafish Xenograft Model to Study Human Cancer

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Cancer Biomarkers

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2413))

Abstract

The zebrafish, Danio rerio, has been an important animal model for cancer research over the last decade. The capability of a high-throughput screen in zebrafish and a wide range of pharmacologically active compounds elicit physiological responses in zebrafish embryos comparable to those in mammalian systems, making zebrafish ideal for identifying clinically relevant drug targets and compounds that regulate tumor progression. The zebrafish model is suitable for patient-derived xenograft (pdx) and large-scale screening of lead compounds against specific malignancies. This established vertebrate model has many advantages, including fast response time, cost efficiency for drug testing, efficient manipulation of the host microenvironment by genetic tools, suitable for small molecule drug screening in high-throughput setting, easy maintenance, transparency for easy observation, high fecundity, and rapid generation time. The zebrafish model is a good alternative in vivo model to mammals for robust testing of drug candidates for cancer therapy.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ms. Xiaoyan Huang, Ms. Chunyu Xu, and Mr. Jamil Haider for technical assistance in zebrafish experiments. This work was partially supported by funding from the University of North Carolina System, grants U54CA156735 from NIH/NCI, and U54MD012392 from NIH/NIMHD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina Research Campus, Kannapolis, NC, USA

    Ranganatha R. Somasagara & TinChung Leung

  2. Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, USA

    TinChung Leung

Authors
  1. Ranganatha R. Somasagara
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  2. TinChung Leung
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Correspondence to TinChung Leung .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Gagan Deep

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Somasagara, R.R., Leung, T. (2022). Zebrafish Xenograft Model to Study Human Cancer. In: Deep, G. (eds) Cancer Biomarkers. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2413. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1896-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1896-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1895-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1896-7

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