PUBLICATION

Nicotine response genetics in the zebrafish

Authors
Petzold, A.M., Balciunas, D., Sivasubbu, S., Clark, K.J., Bedell, V.M., Westcot, S.E., Myers, S.R., Moulder, G.L., Thomas, M.J., and Ekker, S.C.
ID
ZDB-PUB-091101-19
Date
2009
Source
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America   106(44): 18662-18667 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Balciunas, Darius, Clark, Karl, Ekker, Stephen C., Petzold, Andrew, Sivasubbu, Sridhar, Westcot, Stephanie
Keywords
behavior, addiction
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal/drug effects
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Larva/drug effects
  • Larva/genetics
  • Mutagenesis, Insertional/drug effects
  • Mutation/genetics
  • Nicotine/pharmacology*
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
PubMed
19858493 Full text @ Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
Abstract
Tobacco use is predicted to result in over 1 billion deaths worldwide by the end of the 21(st) century. How genetic variation contributes to the observed differential predisposition in the human population to drug dependence is unknown. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an emerging vertebrate model system for understanding the genetics of behavior. We developed a nicotine behavioral assay in zebrafish and applied it in a forward genetic screen using gene-breaking transposon mutagenesis. We used this method to molecularly characterize bdav/cct8 and hbog/gabbr1.2 as mutations with altered nicotine response. Each have a single human ortholog, identifying two points for potential scientific, diagnostic, and drug development for nicotine biology and cessation therapeutics. We show this insertional method generates mutant alleles that are reversible through Cre-mediated recombination, representing a conditional mutation system for the zebrafish. The combination of this reporter-tagged insertional mutagen approach and zebrafish provides a powerful platform for a rich array of questions amenable to genetic-based scientific inquiry, including the basis of behavior, epigenetics, plasticity, stress, memory, and learning.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping