Cho Sung-Joon, Park Eugene, Baker Andrew, Reid Aylin Y
Division of Fundamental Neurobiology, Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Sep 10;8:573303. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.573303. eCollection 2020.
Zebrafish are a powerful tool for investigating epilepsy. Mammalian seizures can be recapitulated molecularly, behaviorally, and electrophysiologically, using a fraction of the resources required for experiments in mammals. Larval zebrafish offer exceptionally economical and high-throughput approaches and are amenable to state-of-the-art genetic engineering techniques, providing valuable transgenic models of human diseases. For these reasons, larvae tend to be chosen for studying epilepsy, but the value of adult zebrafish may be underappreciated. Zebrafish exhibit transient larval - adult duality. The incompletely developed neural system of larval zebrafish may limit the translation of complex neurological disorders. Larval zebrafish go through dynamic changes during ontogenesis, whereas adult zebrafish are physiologically more stable. Adult zebrafish have a full range of complex brain structures and functions, such as an endothelial blood-brain barrier and adult neurogenesis, both are significant factors in epilepsy research. This review highlights the differences between larval and adult zebrafish that should be considered in pathophysiological and pharmacological studies of epilepsy.
斑马鱼是研究癫痫的有力工具。利用哺乳动物实验所需资源的一小部分，就可以在分子、行为和电生理方面再现哺乳动物的癫痫发作情况。斑马鱼幼体提供了极其经济且高通量的方法，并且适用于最先进的基因工程技术，从而提供了有价值的人类疾病转基因模型。出于这些原因，人们倾向于选择幼体来研究癫痫，但成年斑马鱼的价值可能未得到充分认识。斑马鱼表现出短暂的幼体 - 成体二元性。斑马鱼幼体未完全发育的神经系统可能会限制复杂神经系统疾病的转化研究。斑马鱼幼体在个体发育过程中经历动态变化，而成体斑马鱼在生理上更稳定。成年斑马鱼具有完整的复杂脑结构和功能，如内皮血脑屏障和成年神经发生，这两者都是癫痫研究中的重要因素。本综述强调了在癫痫的病理生理和药理学研究中应考虑的斑马鱼幼体与成体之间的差异。
