Author:

Keywords:

Animals, Embryo, Nonmammalian, Humans, Lymphangiogenesis, Models, Animal, Neovascularization, Physiologic, Research, Xenopus, Zebrafish, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Oncology, Cell Biology, angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, zebrafish, GENE TRAP APPROACH, IN-VIVO, VASCULAR DEVELOPMENT, MEDAKA FISH, EMBRYONIC-DEVELOPMENT, MORPHOLINO OLIGOS, HEART DEVELOPMENT, SONIC-HEDGEHOG, BLOOD-VESSELS, DORSAL AORTA, 0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology, 1103 Clinical Sciences, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, 3101 Biochemistry and cell biology

Abstract:

Small vertebrate organisms have emerged as key players in the post-genomic era for the functional characterization of novel genes on a high-throughput scale. In this context, the zebrafish embryos and Xenopus tadpoles represent attractive and valuable models to rapidly identify and characterize novel genes involved in angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis-a significant task with a consequent impact on the design of more effective therapeutic strategies. The advantages of these two models will be discussed in the present review.