Aberrant apoptosis is implicated in several neurodegenerative disorders including, stroke, brain trauma, spinal cord injury, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease. These neurodegenerative diseases are associated with high morbidity and mortality, and treatment options are limited. Agents that modulate apoptosis are a major focus of drug development efforts by biopharmaceutical companies. Assessment of drug effects in a convenient vertebrate model, prior to proceeding to evaluation in complex systems, such as mouse, can potentially streamline drug development and dramatically reduce costs. Zebrafish mutants exhibiting aberrant apoptosis in the central nervous system are an excellent animal model for studying neurodegeneration. Using a zebrafish neurodegenerative mutant line and a vital dye apoptosis assay, this Small Business Innovation Research project proposes to characterize embryogenesis and apoptotic patterning in zebrafish embryos, and to develop a rapid and effective in vivo screen for neuroprotective therapeutics.
