High-Content Analysis Tools for Developmental Toxicity Screens in Zebrafish

描述(申请人提供)：斑马鱼已成为一种重要的新动物模型，用于药物筛选、靶标识别和各种疾病模型的验证。尽管在适应基于图像的高内容筛选系统方面取得了进展，但自动化仍面临一些挑战。到目前为止，斑马鱼检测的定量评估充其量是半人工进行的，这在工作流程和筛选成本方面构成了一个重大的瓶颈。在第一阶段的研究中，我们将专门化软件算法，实现对各种毒性终点的自动化定量评估，从而能够筛选出大量潜在的有毒化合物。 公共卫生相关性：使用斑马鱼作为替代动物模型进行药物筛选，可以大大加快药物筛选过程，降低成本，并提供比基于细胞的分析更准确的结果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The zebrafish has become an important new animal model for drug screening, target identification, and validation of various disease models. Although progress has been made in adapting image based high- content screening systems, there are several challenges for automation. To date, the quantitative evaluation of zebrafish assays is performed semi-manually at best, which constitutes a significant bottleneck in terms of workflow and screening cost. In Phase I research, we will specialize software algorithms that will enable automated quantitative assessment of various toxicity endpoints, thus allowing the screening of a large number of potentially toxic compounds. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Use of zebrafish as an alternative animal model for drug screening can greatly accelerate the drug screening process, decrease costs, and provide more accurate results than cell-based assays.