Zebrafish Germ Cell Tumor Models

Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are malignant tumors arising from the embryonic precursors of primordial germ cells that occur in the testis, ovary, or extragonadal sites in infants, children, and adults. Although rare overall, they account for 15 percent of cancers diagnosed in childhood and adolescence. Testicular GCTs are the most common malignancies in young men aged 15-40 years, and the incidence of GCTs is rapidly increasing worldwide for unclear reasons. Current cisplatin-based combination therapies cure most patients at the cost of significant toxicity to normal tissues, including cardiovascular disease, secondary malignancies, renal insufficiency, and hearing loss. These issues indicate an urgent need for improved targeted therapy of GCTs. However, insufficient understanding of the molecular basis of GCTs, as well as lack of suitable animal models, has hindered the development of new therapeutics.

Germ cell development in zebrafish is conserved in animals. Various factors and pathways regulating mammalian germ cell development are found in zebrafish and have similar functions. With the many advantages of zebrafish in genetic analysis and disease modeling, fish models of GCTs may have large translational implications. Similar to Wilms tumor, neuroblastoma, and medulloblastoma, GCTs are "embryonic" tumors in which misregulation of developmental signaling pathways may play a key role. Therefore, a better understanding of GCT biology may also reveal mechanisms underlying normal germline development.

Fig.1 Zebrafish germ cell tumor models exhibit histologic similarity.

Our Zebrafish Germ Cell Tumor Models

Based on years of experience in zebrafish research, Creative Biogene has established several models with abnormal germline development that recapitulate important aspects of human germ cell tumors, such as the TGF-β/BMP pathway and cilia-mediated signaling path. All of these models are incapable of proper germ cell differentiation and thus exhibit immature, enlarged testes. Additionally, we can visualize Primordial Germ Cells to examine germ cell specification, migration and development.

Our zebrafish models can be used not only for screening to identify genes required for germ cell development, but also for germ cell transplantation assays to study germ cell interactions with the microenvironment. We aim to help you better understand GCT biology and possibly reveal the mechanisms underlying normal germline development.

Advantages

• Easy observation of tumorigenesis and tumor-induced phenotypes in live animals
• Visualization of primordial germ cells
• Multiple induction models
• Mass mutagenesis
• High-throughput gene/drug screening

References

1. Sanchez A, Amatruda JF. Zebrafish Germ Cell Tumors. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2016, 916:479-494.
2. Neumann JC, et al. Zebrafish models of germ cell tumor. Methods Cell Biol. 2011, 105:3-24.
3. Cao Z, Yang Q, Luo L. Zebrafish as a Model for Germ Cell Regeneration. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021, 9:685001.

For research use only. Not intended for any clinical use.