Modeling Human Cardiac Arrhythmias: Insights from Zebrafish

• Published in: Journal of cardiovascular development and disease Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 13
• Main Authors: Gauvrit, Sébastien, Bossaer, Jaclyn, Lee, Joyce, Collins, Michelle M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 05.01.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: atrial fibrillation; Biomechanics; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiac function; Cardiomyocytes; Cardiomyopathy; Disease; Embryos; Gene expression; genetic models; Genomes; Heart; heart development; Hyaluronic acid; inherited arrhythmia; Morphogenesis; Mutation; Review; Transcription factors; zebrafish; atrial fibrillation; cardiac rhythm phenotyping; heart development; inherited arrhythmia; in vivo screening; cardiac arrhythmia; zebrafish; cardiomyopathy; genetic models; imaging
• ISSN: 2308-3425; 2308-3425
• DOI: 10.3390/jcdd9010013

Cardiac arrhythmia, or irregular heart rhythm, is associated with morbidity and mortality and is described as one of the most important future public health challenges. Therefore, developing new models of cardiac arrhythmia is critical for understanding disease mechanisms, determining genetic underpinnings, and developing new therapeutic strategies. In the last few decades, the zebrafish has emerged as an attractive model to reproduce in vivo human cardiac pathologies, including arrhythmias. Here, we highlight the contribution of zebrafish to the field and discuss the available cardiac arrhythmia models. Further, we outline techniques to assess potential heart rhythm defects in larval and adult zebrafish. As genetic tools in zebrafish continue to bloom, this model will be crucial for functional genomics studies and to develop personalized anti-arrhythmic therapies.