The zebrafish has emerged as an important vertebrate model organism for genome-wide functional genomic studies including annotation of gene function, modeling human disease and drug discovery. Many molecular tools, such as transgenesis, gene trapping, gene knockdown and chemical genetic screen, are now available in zebrafish. Using these advanced methods and in collaboration with many other PIs, my laboratory is developing a few zebrafish projects: (1) We are conducting cardiovascular gene trapping to identify and mutate genes involved in zebrafish cardiovascular development. Characterization of novel gene mutations will provide insight into cardiovascular function and disease mechanisms; (2) We are performing large-scale chemical genetic screens in developing zebrafish embryos to identify small molecules modulating zebrafish angiogenesis. Pro-angiogenic compounds will be evaluated as potential drugs to facilitate tissue regeneration whereas the anti-angiogenic compounds may be developed as anti-cancer drugs; (3) Annotation of novel gene function by morpholino-based gene knockdown technology.
