PUBLICATION

Generation and Application of the Zebrafish heg1 Mutant as a Cardiovascular Disease Model

Authors
Lu, S., Hu, M., Wang, Z., Liu, H., Kou, Y., Lyu, Z., Tian, J.
ID
ZDB-PUB-201120-147
Date
2020
Source
Biomolecules   10(11): (Journal)
Registered Authors
Tian, Jing
Keywords
CRISPR/Cas9, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), cardiovascular disease (CVD), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), drug screening, heg1, thrombosis, zebrafish model
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Blood Circulation
  • Cardiovascular Diseases/genetics
  • Cardiovascular Diseases/metabolism*
  • Cardiovascular Diseases/physiopathology
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Female
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Heart Rate
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Membrane Glycoproteins/genetics
  • Membrane Glycoproteins/metabolism*
  • Mutation
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
  • Zebrafish/metabolism
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism*
PubMed
33198188 Full text @ Biomolecules
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of global mortality, which has caused a huge burden on the quality of human life. Therefore, experimental animal models of CVD have become essential tools for analyzing the pathogenesis, developing drug screening, and testing potential therapeutic strategies. In recent decades, zebrafish has entered the field of CVD as an important model organism. HEG1, a heart development protein with EGF like domains 1, plays important roles in the development of vertebrate cardiovascular system. Loss of HEG1 will affect the stabilization of vascular endothelial cell connection and eventually lead to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Here, we generated a heg1-specific knockout zebrafish line using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Zebrafish heg1 mutant demonstrated severe cardiovascular malformations, including atrial ventricular enlargement, heart rate slowing, venous thrombosis and slow blood flow, which were similar to human heart failure and thrombosis phenotype. In addition, the expression of zebrafish cardiac and vascular markers was abnormal in heg1 mutants. In order to apply zebrafish heg1 mutant in cardiovascular drug screening, four Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbs and three Chinese herbal monomers were used to treat heg1 mutant. The pericardial area, the distance between sinus venosus and bulbus arteriosus (SV-BA), heart rate, red blood cells (RBCs) accumulation in posterior cardinal vein (PCV), and blood circulation in the tail vein were measured to evaluate the therapeutic effects of those drugs on DCM and thrombosis. Here, a new zebrafish model of DCM and thrombosis was established, which was verified to be suitable for drug screening of cardiovascular diseases. It provided an alternative method for traditional in vitro screening, and produced potential clinical related drugs in a rapid and cost-effective way.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping