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Zebrafish Protocols for Neurobehavioral Research pp 53–70Cite as

Zebrafish and Drug Development: A Behavioral Assay System for Probing Nicotine Function in Larval Zebrafish

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Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 66))

Abstract

The attributes of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) make it an excellent model system for the development and discovery of new drugs. A robust behavioral assay is described that has been used successfully in studies of nicotine biology. The movement response of a group of larval zebrafish is measured over a 5-min period following application of nicotine. Pretreatment of larvae is employed to identify chemical compounds that reduce locomotor responses to acute nicotine. Activity plots provide an assessment of the biological activity and specificity of neuroactive chemical compounds in intact organisms. The experimental setup can be established in a research or teaching laboratory. The described behavioral assay can be used in pharmacological studies for the characterization of new chemical compounds and is a powerful tool for the discovery of behavioral zebrafish mutants.

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Acknowledgments

Support for this project was provided by DePauw University, NIH DA014546 to SCE, and Mayo Foundation. We thank the team of the Mayo Clinic Zebrafish facility and members of the Ekker-lab for their help and suggestions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN, USA

    Henning Schneider, Vanessa L. Mock, Julia M. Abarr, Jennifer L. Behrens, Ryan E. Edelen, Bryan A. Edwards, Joshua S. Hobgood, Meghann E. Pogue & Nishant K. Singh

  2. Mayo Addiction Research Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Eric W. Klee, Karl J. Clark & Stephen C. Ekker

  3. Center for Learning Innovation, University of Minnesota Rochester, Rochester, MN, USA

    Andrew M. Petzold

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  1. Henning Schneider
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  2. Eric W. Klee
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  5. Vanessa L. Mock
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  7. Jennifer L. Behrens
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  8. Ryan E. Edelen
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  11. Meghann E. Pogue
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  12. Nishant K. Singh
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  13. Stephen C. Ekker
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henning Schneider .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Program, Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University, Tulane Ave. 1430, New Orleans, 70112, Louisiana, USA

    Allan V. Kalueff

  2. , Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University, Tulane Avenue 1430, New Orleans, 70112, Louisiana, USA

    Adam Michael Stewart

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Schneider, H. et al. (2012). Zebrafish and Drug Development: A Behavioral Assay System for Probing Nicotine Function in Larval Zebrafish. In: Kalueff, A., Stewart, A. (eds) Zebrafish Protocols for Neurobehavioral Research. Neuromethods, vol 66. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-597-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-597-8_4

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-596-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-597-8

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