Speaker
Description
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) emerged as a powerful tool for scientific research starting from the beginning of the 1980s. Its remarkable characteristics such as the high fecundity, the external fertilization and development, the elevated similarity with the human genome and the possibility to easily manipulate it, made the zebrafish an optimal animal model for basic research and translational applications. The optical clarity of the embryo during its whole development constitutes another fundamental feature that promoted the generation of multiple transgenic lines aimed at deciphering the mechanisms underlying cellular processes, tissues morphogenesis and organs functionality. The targeted expression of fluorescent proteins, indeed, allows direct visualization and scoring of manifold processes to shed light on different aspects of cellular and developmental biology and physiopathology of diseases. In our research, that we propose as an example of zebrafish use in the study of neurodegenerative processes, we exploited the optical accessibility of larvae and fluorescent transgenic zebrafish lines to unravel the impact of increased levels of glucosyl-sterols on the development and function of motor neurons and neuromuscular junctions. Unbalance in the amount of these molecules in the organism, indeed, has been associated with the occurrence of neurodegenerative outcomes similar to Parkinson’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, that involve neuronal loss and impaired functionality.
