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Callegari S, Mirzaei F, Agbaria L, Shariff S, Kantawala B, Moronge D, Ogendi BMO. Zebrafish as an Emerging Model for Sarcopenia: Considerations, Current Insights, and Future Directions. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:17018. [PMID: 38069340 PMCID: PMC10707505 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242317018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Sarcopenia poses a significant challenge to public health and can severely impact the quality of life of aging populations. Despite extensive efforts to study muscle degeneration using traditional animal models, there is still a lack of effective diagnostic tools, precise biomarkers, and treatments for sarcopenia. Zebrafish models have emerged as powerful tools in biomedical research, providing unique insights into age-related muscle disorders like sarcopenia. The advantages of using zebrafish models include their rapid growth outside of the embryo, optical transparency during early developmental stages, high reproductive potential, ease of husbandry, compact size, and genetic tractability. By deepening our understanding of the molecular processes underlying sarcopenia, we may develop novel diagnostic tools and effective treatments that can improve the lives of aging individuals affected by this condition. This review aims to explore the unique advantages of zebrafish as a model for sarcopenia research, highlight recent breakthroughs, outline potential avenues for future investigations, and emphasize the distinctive contributions that zebrafish models offer. Our research endeavors to contribute significantly to address the urgent need for practical solutions to reduce the impact of sarcopenia on aging populations, ultimately striving to enhance the quality of life for individuals affected by this condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santiago Callegari
- Vascular Medicine Outcomes Laboratory, Cardiology Department, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Foad Mirzaei
- Faculty of General Medicine, Yerevan State Medical University after Mikhtar Heratsi, 2 Koryun, Yerevan 0025, Armenia; (F.M.); (L.A.); (B.K.)
| | - Lila Agbaria
- Faculty of General Medicine, Yerevan State Medical University after Mikhtar Heratsi, 2 Koryun, Yerevan 0025, Armenia; (F.M.); (L.A.); (B.K.)
| | - Sanobar Shariff
- Faculty of General Medicine, Yerevan State Medical University after Mikhtar Heratsi, 2 Koryun, Yerevan 0025, Armenia; (F.M.); (L.A.); (B.K.)
| | - Burhan Kantawala
- Faculty of General Medicine, Yerevan State Medical University after Mikhtar Heratsi, 2 Koryun, Yerevan 0025, Armenia; (F.M.); (L.A.); (B.K.)
| | - Desmond Moronge
- Department of Physiology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, USA;
| | - Brian M. O. Ogendi
- Department of Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA;
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Qureshi A, Connolly JB. Bioinformatic and literature assessment of toxicity and allergenicity of a CRISPR-Cas9 engineered gene drive to control Anopheles gambiae the mosquito vector of human malaria. Malar J 2023; 22:234. [PMID: 37580703 PMCID: PMC10426224 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-023-04665-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Population suppression gene drive is currently being evaluated, including via environmental risk assessment (ERA), for malaria vector control. One such gene drive involves the dsxFCRISPRh transgene encoding (i) hCas9 endonuclease, (ii) T1 guide RNA (gRNA) targeting the doublesex locus, and (iii) DsRed fluorescent marker protein, in genetically-modified mosquitoes (GMMs). Problem formulation, the first stage of ERA, for environmental releases of dsxFCRISPRh previously identified nine potential harms to the environment or health that could occur, should expressed products of the transgene cause allergenicity or toxicity. METHODS Amino acid sequences of hCas9 and DsRed were interrogated against those of toxins or allergens from NCBI, UniProt, COMPARE and AllergenOnline bioinformatic databases and the gRNA was compared with microRNAs from the miRBase database for potential impacts on gene expression associated with toxicity or allergenicity. PubMed was also searched for any evidence of toxicity or allergenicity of Cas9 or DsRed, or of the donor organisms from which these products were originally derived. RESULTS While Cas9 nuclease activity can be toxic to some cell types in vitro and hCas9 was found to share homology with the prokaryotic toxin VapC, there was no evidence from previous studies of a risk of toxicity to humans and other animals from hCas9. Although hCas9 did contain an 8-mer epitope found in the latex allergen Hev b 9, the full amino acid sequence of hCas9 was not homologous to any known allergens. Combined with a lack of evidence in the literature of Cas9 allergenicity, this indicated negligible risk to humans of allergenicity from hCas9. No matches were found between the gRNA and microRNAs from either Anopheles or humans. Moreover, potential exposure to dsxFCRISPRh transgenic proteins from environmental releases was assessed as negligible. CONCLUSIONS Bioinformatic and literature assessments found no convincing evidence to suggest that transgenic products expressed from dsxFCRISPRh were allergens or toxins, indicating that environmental releases of this population suppression gene drive for malaria vector control should not result in any increased allergenicity or toxicity in humans or animals. These results should also inform evaluations of other GMMs being developed for vector control and in vivo clinical applications of CRISPR-Cas9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alima Qureshi
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Sunninghill, Ascot, UK
| | - John B Connolly
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Sunninghill, Ascot, UK.
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Ichii S, Matsuoka I, Okazaki F, Shimada Y. Zebrafish Models for Skeletal Muscle Senescence: Lessons from Cell Cultures and Rodent Models. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27238625. [PMID: 36500717 PMCID: PMC9739860 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27238625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Human life expectancy has markedly increased over the past hundred years. Consequently, the percentage of elderly people is increasing. Aging and sarcopenic changes in skeletal muscles not only reduce locomotor activities in elderly people but also increase the chance of trauma, such as bone fractures, and the incidence of other diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, due to reduced physical activity. Exercise therapy is currently the only treatment and prevention approach for skeletal muscle aging. In this review, we aimed to summarize the strategies for modeling skeletal muscle senescence in cell cultures and rodents and provide future perspectives based on zebrafish models. In cell cultures, in addition to myoblast proliferation and myotube differentiation, senescence induction into differentiated myotubes is also promising. In rodents, several models have been reported that reflect the skeletal muscle aging phenotype or parts of it, including the accelerated aging models. Although there are fewer models of skeletal muscle aging in zebrafish than in mice, various models have been reported in recent years with the development of CRISPR/Cas9 technology, and further advancements in the field using zebrafish models are expected in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shogo Ichii
- Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
| | - Izumi Matsuoka
- Graduate School of Regional Innovation Studies, Mie University, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
| | - Fumiyoshi Okazaki
- Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
- Zebrafish Drug Screening Center, Mie University, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
| | - Yasuhito Shimada
- Zebrafish Drug Screening Center, Mie University, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
- Department of Bioinformatics, Mie University Advanced Science Research Promotion Center, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
- Department of Integrative Pharmacology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +81-592-31-5411
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Ribeiro R, Macedo JC, Costa M, Ustiyan V, Shindyapina AV, Tyshkovskiy A, Gomes RN, Castro JP, Kalin TV, Vasques-Nóvoa F, Nascimento DS, Dmitriev SE, Gladyshev VN, Kalinichenko VV, Logarinho E. In vivo cyclic induction of the FOXM1 transcription factor delays natural and progeroid aging phenotypes and extends healthspan. NATURE AGING 2022; 2:397-411. [PMID: 37118067 DOI: 10.1038/s43587-022-00209-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 04/30/2023]
Abstract
The FOXM1 transcription factor exhibits pleiotropic C-terminal transcriptional and N-terminal non-transcriptional functions in various biological processes critical for cellular homeostasis. We previously found that FOXM1 repression during cellular aging underlies the senescence phenotypes, which were vastly restored by overexpressing transcriptionally active FOXM1. Yet, it remains unknown whether increased expression of FOXM1 can delay organismal aging. Here, we show that in vivo cyclic induction of an N-terminal truncated FOXM1 transgene on progeroid and naturally aged mice offsets aging-associated repression of full-length endogenous Foxm1, reinstating both transcriptional and non-transcriptional functions. This translated into mitigation of several cellular aging hallmarks, as well as molecular and histopathological progeroid features of the short-lived Hutchison-Gilford progeria mouse model, significantly extending its lifespan. FOXM1 transgene induction also reinstated endogenous Foxm1 levels in naturally aged mice, delaying aging phenotypes while extending their lifespan. Thus, we disclose that FOXM1 genetic rewiring can delay senescence-associated progeroid and natural aging pathologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Ribeiro
- Aging and Aneuploidy Laboratory, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Graduate Program in Areas of Basic and Applied Biology (GABBA), ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Joana C Macedo
- Aging and Aneuploidy Laboratory, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Madalena Costa
- Anatomy Department, Unit for Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Vladimir Ustiyan
- Center for Lung Regenerative Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Pulmonary Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Anastasia V Shindyapina
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alexander Tyshkovskiy
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Rita N Gomes
- INEB - Instituto Nacional de Engenharia Biomédica, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - José Pedro Castro
- Aging and Aneuploidy Laboratory, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Tanya V Kalin
- Division of Pulmonary Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Francisco Vasques-Nóvoa
- INEB - Instituto Nacional de Engenharia Biomédica, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Cardiovascular Research and Development Center, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Diana S Nascimento
- INEB - Instituto Nacional de Engenharia Biomédica, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Sergey E Dmitriev
- Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Vadim N Gladyshev
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Vladimir V Kalinichenko
- Center for Lung Regenerative Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Pulmonary Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Elsa Logarinho
- Aging and Aneuploidy Laboratory, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
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Advances in Cardiac Development and Regeneration Using Zebrafish as a Model System for High-Throughput Research. J Dev Biol 2021; 9:jdb9040040. [PMID: 34698193 PMCID: PMC8544412 DOI: 10.3390/jdb9040040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 09/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of cardiac development and regeneration will improve diagnostic and therapeutic interventions against heart disease. In this direction, zebrafish is an excellent model because several processes of zebrafish heart development are largely conserved in humans, and zebrafish has several advantages as a model organism. Zebrafish transcriptomic profiles undergo alterations during different stages of cardiac development and regeneration which are revealed by RNA-sequencing. ChIP-sequencing has detected genome-wide occupancy of histone post-translational modifications that epigenetically regulate gene expression and identified a locus with enhancer-like characteristics. ATAC-sequencing has identified active enhancers in cardiac progenitor cells during early developmental stages which overlap with occupancy of histone modifications of active transcription as determined by ChIP-sequencing. CRISPR-mediated editing of the zebrafish genome shows how chromatin modifiers and DNA-binding proteins regulate heart development, in association with crucial signaling pathways. Hence, more studies in this direction are essential to improve human health because they answer fundamental questions on cardiac development and regeneration, their differences, and why zebrafish hearts regenerate upon injury, unlike humans. This review focuses on some of the latest studies using state-of-the-art technology enabled by the elegant yet simple zebrafish.
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