Decades‐long involvement of signalling pathways in cardiovascular research using zebrafish model and its global trends
Ambika Binesh
Abstract
Abstract Research on zebrafish as a model system began a few decades ago, and later, studies on zebrafish developmental biology and genetics resulted in the characterization of a large number of genes involved in vertebrate development and cell signalling pathways, thus establishing zebrafish as a relevant human disease model for research. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the first leading cause of death and are expected to rise over 23.6 million by 2030. Environmental toxicants such as drugs, alcohols and chemicals can activate/disrupt number of signalling pathways, led to the cardiovascular toxicity and perturb the development of myocardium, cardiomyocytes, cardiac valve formation and cardiac trabecular growth. Based on the total publication output, USA's contribution to cardiovascular research using zebrafish as a model organism was immense compared to that of other countries. Harvard University contributed comprehensive research on CVD using zebrafish model with a cumulative occurrence of keywords like zebrafish, angiogenesis, cardiovascular disease, pollutants and developmental process. Many pathways are redundant, and the activation of certain targets implicated in cardiovascular disease development is by inhibiting one particular pathway leading to activation of alternative signalling pathways. Targeting highly specific pathways by single compounds inhibiting only one protein generally leads to resistance to this therapeutic agent. It is understood from the publications and citations, that the use of zebrafish as a cardiovascular disease (CVD) model has been gradually expanded from 2000 to 2019, likely due to the recapitulated pathophysiology of the human heart.