ZeEfficacy – Efficacy Services

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Organ-specific assessments

Our extensive portfolio of phenotyping assays in zebrafish provides a path to evaluate, both in the whole organism and specific organs, phenotypes resulting from pharmacological treatment and/or gene variation, for lead therapeutics identification and disease biology understanding.

Phenotype-based screening is one of the most effective approaches to drug discovery. The Zebrafish model allows performing in vivo efficacy tests cost-effectively, with high biological translatability and reduced ethical constraints. Thanks to their optical transparency, zebrafish embryos allow easy and non-invasive evaluation of morphological, functional, biochemical, and behavioral features. Specific phenotypes can also be assessed in adult fish, especially for evaluations over an extended period of time.

Whole organism
  • Survival/mortality
  • Body weight
  • Determination of growth rate
  • General morphological abnormalities
  • Teratogenic index
  • Peptide bioavailability
  • Inflammation studies (neutrophils and macrophages recruitment)
  • Cholesterol accumulation (whole embryo)
  • Triglyceride accumulation (whole embryo)
  • Glucose accumulation (whole embryo)
  • Liver function: ALT and AST enzymes (whole embryo)
Intestine
  • Intestine morphology
  • Intestine motility/functionality
  • Tissue-specific cell-based analysis
Liver
  • Liver necrosis
  • Hepatomegaly
  • Yolk lipid retention
  • Steatosis: fat accumulation in the liver
  • Liver inflammation (neutrophils recruitment)
Muscle
  • Muscle integrity
  • Muscle functionality (locomotion)
Central nervous system
  • Locomotion activity and patterns
  • Startle response
  • Habituation response
  • Convulsive behavior (seizures)
  • Thigmotaxis (anxiety-like behavior)
  • Specific neuronal population analysis
Heart
  • Heart function:
    • Heartbeat frequency (ventricle and atrium)
    • Arrhythmias
    • Ejection fraction
    • QT prolongation
    • Fibrillation
    • Cardiac arrest
  • Cardiac malformations
Gonads
  • Fertility rate
  • Male gonads weight
Eye
  • Tissue-specific cell-based analysis: retinal photoreceptors survival & regeneration

We'd like to hear from you

If you want more information about our phenotypic
screening capabilities or have any other questions,
please contact our experts.