BACKGROUND: Genetic long QT (LQT) syndrome is a life-threatening disorder caused by mutations that result in prolongation of cardiac repolarization. Recent work has demonstrated that a zebrafish model of LQT syndrome faithfully recapitulates several features of human disease, including prolongation of ventricular action potential duration, spontaneous early afterdepolarizations, and 2:1 atrioventricular block in early stages […]

Two known zebrafish dystrophin mutants, sapje and sapje-like (sap(c/100)), represent excellent small-animal models of human muscular dystrophy. Using these dystrophin-null zebrafish, we have screened the Prestwick chemical library for small molecules that modulate the muscle phenotype in these fish. With a quick and easy birefringence assay, we have identified seven small molecules that influence muscle […]

High-throughput screening (HTS) is a well-established technology which can test up to several million compounds in a few weeks. Despite these appealing capabilities, available resources and high costs may limit the number of molecules screened, making diversity analysis a method of choice to design and prioritize screening libraries. With a constantly increasing number of molecules […]

BACKGROUND: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a devastating muscle wasting disease caused by mutations in dystrophin, a muscle cytoskeletal protein. Utrophin is a homologue of dystrophin that can functionally compensate for its absence when expressed at increased levels in the myofibre, as shown by studies in dystrophin-deficient mice. Utrophin upregulation is therefore a promising therapeutic […]

Expanded trinucleotide repeats are responsible for a number of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington disease and myotonic dystrophy type 1. The mechanisms that underlie repeat instability in the germ line and in the somatic tissues of human patients are undefined. Using a selection assay based on contraction of CAG repeat tracts in human cells, we […]