Project description
Kinematic analysis of movements in zebrafish supports neuromuscular drug development
Animal models of diseases are integral to development of drugs to treat them. The zebrafish has emerged as an excellent model system for drug screening. Companies are increasingly taking advantage of its well-known genome and nervous system to research drugs for motor system and neurological disorders. However, current commercially available analysis methods cannot capture the fast kinematics associated with sensory and motor responses. The European Research Council-funded ZebraZoom project will evaluate the market potential of its high-throughput, high-resolution platform, enabling quantification and categorisation of behavioural movements of zebrafish larvae/juveniles in response to drug administration and genetic manipulations. The resulting market plan will target both research labs and pharmaceutical companies.
Objective
With millions of European citizens suffering from chronic pain and neurodegenerative disease, there is an urgent need for efficient solutions for drug screening in animal models. Discovery of new drugs and functions of genes involved in these human diseases relies on efficient ways to screen effects on animal behavior and at low cost. Zebrafish emerged in the last decade as an essential model for drug discovery as it is: i) a low cost genetic model organism whose genome shares 70% homology with human’s. ii) well-suited to fast and high throughput investigation of genes and molecules. iii) an ideal platform to study genes and pathways of relevance to disease in humans. Consequently, several companies are exploiting zebrafish research to devise new drugs for motor and neurological disorders. However, the current state of the art in commercial analysis of zebrafish behavior is limited to the analysis of crude parameters. In these conditions, the fast kinematics indicative of specific types of sensory and motor defects cannot be resolved. A fine kinematic analysis efficiently performed over large population of animals is crucial to reliably quantify defects in strength, posture or speed in mutant animals with and without with drug treatment. This accuracy is critical for concluding on the effects of drugs involved in motor functions, posture or pain. During her ERC starting grant OptoLoco, Dr. Wyart has developed ZebraZoom to resolve kinematic data with the necessary degree of resolution required for interpretation of motor defects. This approach enables the quantitative measurement of defects in speed, posture, and movement strength. In the ZebraZoom PoC, we will evaluate the market potential for a high-throughput method to quantify and categorise behavioural movements of zebrafish larvae/juveniles in response to drug administration and genetic manipulations and elaborate a marketing plan and business plan targeting for pharmaceutical companies and research labs.
Fields of science
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug discovery
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyichthyology
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineneurology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsgenomes
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantHost institution
75013 Paris
France