Zebrafish Models for Cancer Research

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editors

Jeanette Astorga Johansson

University of Edinburgh, Centre for Inflammation Research

Dr. Jeanette Astorga Johansson obtained her PhD in 2007 from the University of Gothenburg, where she studied multiple developmental processes regulated by the FoxF family of transcription factors. The same year, she moved to Edinburgh to study in vitro human stem cell differentiation and later joined the lab of Dr. Denis Headon to work on the cellular pathways controlling mouse skin patterning. In 2016, she joined the zebrafish lab of Professor Elizabeth Patton where she uncovered the molecular function of prl3, a metastasis-associated phosphatase in melanocyte regeneration and cancer. She joined the lab of Dr. Yi Feng in 2020, to continue her skin cancer work using the inducible, tissue-specific HRAS G12 model established by the Feng lab. Her aim is to investigate the cellular signaling required for the establishment of the pre-neoplastic niche and finding targetable pathways that prevent early metastasis.

Yi Feng

University of Edinburgh, Centre for Inflammation Research

Dr. Yi Feng started using zebrafish as a model organism to study sensory organ development in 2004 during her first post-doctoral fellowship in the National Institute for Medical Research, London. From 2007, she started using zebrafish models to investigate the process of tumorigenesis in Paul Martin’s laboratory, Bristol, England. She set up her own laboratory in the University of Edinburgh in 2012. Her research has focused upon the earliest events during tumor initiation, using models of early pre-neoplastic cell (PNC) development governed by transgenic expression of oncogenic Ras. Her research has showed that PNCs induce an inflammatory response during tumor initiation, and the recruited host innate immune cells promote PNC growth and tumor development. Her lab employs in vivo live imaging approaches to monitor the earliest events during tumor initiation. We also use gene expression analysis and other omic analyses as well as zebrafish genetic methods. From their research they wish to elucidate mechanisms that modulate pre-neoplastic lesion development, which might aid the development of strategies for cancer prevention and early detection.

Abigail Elliot

University of Edinburgh, Centre for Inflammation Research

Abigail Elliot’s interest in cancer biology began during her undergraduate years, studying Cell Biology at The University of Manchester. It was also here that she was first introduced to the use of zebrafish as a model organism for cancer research, during a research placement within the lab of Dr. Adam Hurlstone, studying the role of PTPRK as a tumor suppressor in melanomagenesis. After exploring different experimental models and areas of research and completing an MSc in Cell Biology, she has returned to the zebrafish model to study cancer development. She commenced her doctoral studies in 2018 within the laboratory of Dr. Yi Feng at the University of Edinburgh, supported by the MRC Precision Medicine Doctoral Training Programme. Her research is focused upon the response of macrophages to Ras-induced tumor initiation. Within a range of transgenic zebrafish cancer models, macrophages have been shown to promote the clonal expansional of pre-neoplastic cells. Using a combination of single-cell transcriptomics, live imaging, and genetic manipulation, she aims to decipher molecular mechanisms governing the pro-tumor function of macrophages during tumor initiation.

Collection Overview

The overall goal of the methods collection is to collate all available methods, as well as novel methods, that relate to all aspects of using zebrafish for cancer research. Through a centralized methods collection with detailed video protocols, we hope that zebrafish cancer models and research methodology can be better shared within the zebrafish community and used more widely throughout the cancer research field, including by researchers who might not be familiar with hands-on zebrafish research. This collection will include both methods to generate transgenic zebrafish cancer models and methods that detail the use of xenograft tumor models, in particular PDX models, that would be valuable to both basic research and pre-clinical studies. Furthermore, methods that facilitate the study of various aspects of cancer biology within zebrafish cancer models are also within our scope. For instance, methods for studying angiogenesis, cancer stem cells, the tumor microenvironment, cancer metabolism, tumor-associated inflammation, or tumor metastasis within zebrafish models. Additionally, this collection would also include protocols that use zebrafish for drug screening or pre-clinical drug testing.