Organizers:

Manfred Schartl, Universität Würtzburg/University of Bergen

Lisbeth C. Olsen, Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology

• 2 ECTs will be awarded for the course
  

Abstract

Understanding the complex mechanisms underlying human diseases on the molecular and physiological level is a prerequisite for developing new strategies for prevention, risk prediction, early diagnosis, curative treatment and long term surveillance. Reasoning that disease phenomena can only be understood when regarding the whole organism rather than by studying cells in culture or molecules in the test tube, whole animal models are required for a deeper understanding.

In this context fish provide attractive models for basic and applied research.  The success of small aquarium fish as research organisms, like zebrafish and medaka but also a number of lesser known species, has provided a wide knowledge basis on their normal development and physiology. On these grounds a number of disease models have already been developed or are under construction. The possibility to combine the advantages of genetic tools with the methods of developmental biology and cell biology makes them especially useful for biomedical research in order to understand the cause and consequences of a disease process.

Fish are also uniquely suited for high throughput approaches including drug screens. This course will familiarize the participants with the current status of fish models for human diseases and provide the background to design own research in this field. Fish models for cancer research, bone and skeletal diseases, aging and age related diseases,  psychological disorders and many more will be discussed. Up-to-date research methods, including drug screens and bioinformatic analysis are covered as well.

• Programme

Articles for Journal Clubs

Journal Club lead by Alessandro Cellerino:

1. zebrafish model of tauopathy allows in vivo imaging of neuronal cell death and drug evaluation. Paquet D, Bhat R, Sydow A, Mandelkow EM, Berg S, Hellberg S, Fälting J, Distel M, Köster RW, Schmid B, Haass C. J Clin Invest. 2009 May;119(5):1382-95. doi: 10.1172/JCI37537. Epub 2009 Apr 13
2.  cis-Regulatory changes in Kit ligand expression and parallel evolution of pigmentation in sticklebacks and humans. Miller CT, Beleza S, Pollen AA, Schluter D, Kittles RA, Shriver MD, Kingsley DM. Cell. 2007 Dec 14;131(6):1179-89
3. Heart regeneration in zebrafish. Poss KD, Wilson LG, Keating MT. Science. 2002 Dec 13;298(5601):2188-90

Journal Club lead by Suresh Jesuthasan

1. Orger et al. Control of visually guided behavior by distinct populations of spinal projection neurons. Nat Neurosci (2008) vol. 11 (3) pp. 327-333
2. Szobota et al. Remote control of neuronal activity with a light-gated glutamate receptor. Neuron (2007) vol. 54 (4) pp. 535-45)
3. Owens et al. Identification of genetic and chemical modulators of zebrafish mechanosensory hair cell death. PLoS Genet (2008) vol. 4 (2) pp. e1000020

Journal Club lead by Tim Chico

1. Schwerte T. and Pelster B. (2000). Digital motion analysis as a tool for analysing the shape and performance of the circulatory system in transparent animals. J Exp Biol 203: 1659-1669. [This is the first example of non-invasive generation of an angiogram, and although it is old, the technique is applicable to a lot of cell movement analysis. ]

2. Konstantin Stoletov, Longhou Fang, Soo-Ho Choi, Karsten Hartvigsen, Lotte F. Hansen, Chris Hall, Jennifer Pattison, Joseph Juliano, Elizabeth R. Miller, Felicidad Almazan, Phil Crosier, Joseph L. Witztum, Richard L. Klemke, and Yury I. Miller. Vascular Lipid Accumulation, Lipoprotein Oxidation, and Macrophage Lipid Uptake in Hypercholesterolemic Zebrafish. Circ. Res., Apr 2009; 104: 952 - 960.  [Quite a recent and potentially important paper detailing the "atherosclerosis" like lesions induced in embryos and adults after cholesterol feeding.]

3. Small molecule screen for compounds that affect vascular development in the zebrafish retina. Kitambi SS, McCulloch KJ, Peterson RT, Malicki JJ. Mech Dev. 2009 May-Jun;126(5-6):464-77. [The most recent small molecule vascular screen, with some interesting methods of vascular imaging.]

Registration

contact@mcb.uib.no

Deadline: May 15th 2009

Registration fee for external participants (participants not affiliated with the University of Bergen): 1.000 NOK

Practical information

The course is held at VilVite center, Thormølensgate 51, 2nd floor.