TY  - JOUR
A1  - Rödel, Claudia Jasmin
A1  - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim
T1  - A zebrafish toolbox for biomechanical signaling in cardiovascular development and disease
JF  - Current opinion in hematology
N2  - Purpose of review 
The zebrafish embryo has emerged as a powerful model organism to investigate the mechanisms by which biophysical forces regulate vascular and cardiac cell biology during development and disease. A versatile arsenal of methods and tools is available to manipulate and analyze biomechanical signaling. This review aims to provide an overview of the experimental strategies and tools that have been utilized to study biomechanical signaling in cardiovascular developmental processes and different vascular disease models in the zebrafish embryo. Within the scope of this review, we focus on work published during the last two years. 

Recent findings 
Genetic and pharmacological tools for the manipulation of cardiac function allow alterations of hemodynamic flow patterns in the zebrafish embryo and various types of transgenic lines are available to report endothelial cell responses to biophysical forces. These tools have not only revealed the impact of biophysical forces on cardiovascular development but also helped to establish more accurate models for cardiovascular diseases including cerebral cavernous malformations, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasias, arteriovenous malformations, and lymphangiopathies.

Summary
The zebrafish embryo is a valuable vertebrate model in which in-vivo manipulations of biophysical forces due to cardiac contractility and blood flow can be performed. These analyses give important insights into biomechanical signaling pathways that control endothelial and endocardial cell behaviors. The technical advances using this vertebrate model will advance our understanding of the impact of biophysical forces in cardiovascular pathologies.
KW  - angiogenesis
KW  - cardiovascular system
KW  - Danio rerio (zebrafish)
KW  - genetic
KW  - tools
KW  - mechanobiology
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1097/MOH.0000000000000648
SN  - 1065-6251
SN  - 1531-7048
VL  - 28
IS  - 3
SP  - 198
EP  - 207
PB  - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
CY  - Philadelphia
ER  -