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.