Zebrafish Models of Haematopoietic Disease Group Leader: Dr
Elspeth (Beth) Payne The development of blood initiates during
early embryogenesis. This process is highly conserved in
vertebrates, from fish to humans. Genes that are mutated in
hematopoietic malignancies and disease are often required for
the normal maintenance and production of blood cells not only in
adult tissues but in the developing embryo. Therefore defining
the genetic events and interactions governing blood development
can provide important insights into the pathogenesis of
haematopoietic malignancies. With these facts in mind our
laboratory utilize the zebrafish, a small freshwater fish to
model human blood disorders to allow us to gain insight into
their genetic basis and to develop novel therapies. We use
zebrafish with knockdown of the ribosomal protein genes Rps19,
Rps26 and Rpl11 in during development to model the congenital
red cell aplasia, Diamond-Blackfan Anaemia (DBA). In parallel we
have developed a zebrafish with loss of Rps14