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A High-Throughput Assay for Congenital and Age-Related Eye Diseases in Zebrafish
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

A High-Throughput Assay for Congenital and Age-Related Eye Diseases in Zebrafish

Lindy K Brastrom, C Anthony Scott, Deborah V Dawson and Diane C Slusarski
Biomedicines, Vol.7(2), p.28
04/11/2019
DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines7020028
PMCID: PMC6631034
PMID: 30979021
url
https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines7020028View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Debilitating visual impairment caused by cataracts or microphthalmia is estimated to affect roughly 20 million people in the United States alone. According to the National Eye Institute, by 2050 that number is expected to more than double to roughly 50 million. The identification of candidate disease-causing alleles for cataracts and microphthalmia has been accelerated with advanced sequencing technologies creating a need for verification of the pathophysiology of these genes. Zebrafish pose many advantages as a high-throughput model for human eye disease. By 5 days post-fertilization, zebrafish have quantifiable behavioral responses to visual stimuli. Their small size, many progeny, and external fertilization allows for rapid screening for vision defects. We have adapted the OptoMotor Response to assay visual impairment in zebrafish models of cataracts and microphthalmia. This research demonstrates an inexpensive, high-throughput method for analyzing candidate genes involved in visual impairment.
vision microphthalmia visual impairment disorders crim1 optomotor response visual assay zebrafish cataracts rbm24a

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