Descripción del proyecto
El análisis cinemático de los movimientos del pez cebra facilita el desarrollo de fármacos neuromusculares
Los modelos animales de enfermedades son esenciales para el desarrollo de fármacos destinados a tratarlas. El pez cebra ha surgido como un excelente sistema modelo para el cribado de fármacos. Las empresas aprovechan cada vez más su conocido genoma y sistema nervioso para investigar fármacos contra trastornos neurológicos y del sistema motor. Sin embargo, los actuales métodos de análisis disponibles en el mercado no logran captar la rápida cinemática asociada a las respuestas sensoriales y motoras. El equipo del proyecto ZebraZoom, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, evaluará el potencial comercial de su plataforma de alto rendimiento y alta resolución, que permite cuantificar y categorizar los movimientos de comportamiento de larvas y juveniles de pez cebra como respuesta a la administración de fármacos y a manipulaciones genética. El consiguiente plan comercial se dirigirá tanto a los laboratorios de investigación como a las empresas farmacéuticas.
Objetivo
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.
Ámbito científico
CORDIS clasifica los proyectos con EuroSciVoc, una taxonomía plurilingüe de ámbitos científicos, mediante un proceso semiautomático basado en técnicas de procesamiento del lenguaje natural.
CORDIS clasifica los proyectos con EuroSciVoc, una taxonomía plurilingüe de ámbitos científicos, mediante un proceso semiautomático basado en técnicas de procesamiento del lenguaje natural.
- 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
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantInstitución de acogida
75013 Paris
Francia