Zebrafish as clinically relevant animal model to understand mechanisms of disease

The zebrafish is an attractive and widely recognized vertebrate model organism to investigate human diseases, owing to the high degree of genetic, anatomical and physiological similarity to humans. We develop, characterize and exploit (novel) zebrafish disease models to gain understanding of disease mechanisms or develop new treatment strategies, including genetic therapies.

Research projects and collaborators:

• Understanding pathogenic mechanisms of Usher syndrome.
  Erwin van Wyk, Sanne Broekman, Merel Stemerdink, Erik de Vrieze – Otorhinolaryngology; Human Genetics
• Development of genetic therapies for USH2A- and USH2C-associated retinitis pigmentosa.
  Erwin van Wyk, Erik de Vrieze, Sanne Broekman Renske Schellens, Merel Stemerdink – Otorhinolaryngology; Human Genetics
• Elucidating the molecular basis for sleep-related problems in patients with Usher Syndrome.
  Erwin van Wyk, Erik de Vrieze, Jessie Hendricks, Juriaan Metz – Otorhinolaryngology; Human Genetics; Animal Ecology and Physiology
• Understanding pathogenic mechanisms of DFNA21-type of hearing loss.
  Erik de Vrieze, Suzanne de Bruijn, Hannie Kremer, Erwin van Wijk –Otorhinolaryngology; Human Genetics
• Towards understanding and treatment of pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas Margo Dona, Meike Rohrbach, Marnix Gorissen, Henri Timmers – Internal Medicine; Animal Ecology and Physiology
• Immune cell function in a morpholino-based PMM2-CDG model.
  Paola de Haas, Wiljan Hendriks, Alessandra Cambi – Cell Biology
• Molecular etiology of craniofacial malformations using zebrafish models.
  Sophie Raterman, Juriaan Metz, Hans Von den Hoff, Frank Wagener – Animal Ecology and Physiology; Orthodontics and Craniofacial Biology
• Molecular therapies for inherited retinal diseases.
  Alex Garanto, Anita Hoogendoorn, Rob Collin – Human Genetics