Cloning & Transgenesis
Open Access

Abstract

Transgenic Zebrafish Models for Understanding Retinitis Pigmentosa

Raghupathy RK, Patnaik SR and Shu X

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a heterogeneous genetic retinal disorder, characterized by impaired dark adaption and progressive loss of photoreceptor cells. More than 46 genes have been identified to be responsible for RP, but the functional roles of RP-causing mutants are largely unknown. Due to the similarities of anatomy, physiology and functional signal pathways to human retina, the zebrafish has become a valuable model to study human retinal diseases. With the aid of improved techniques in transgenesis, the use of the zebrafish model has been accelerated, especially in the field of retinal degeneration. In this brief review, we will present an overview of the transgenic approaches in zebrafish and the utility of transgenic zebrafish for assessing the pathogenicity of RP-causing alleles.