Modeling Cardiovascular Disease in the Zebrafish

The zebrafish possesses a host of advantages that have established it as an excellent model of vertebrate development. These include ease of genetic manipulation and transgenesis, optical clarity, and small size and cost. Biomedical researchers are increasingly exploiting these advantages to model human disease mechanisms. Here we review the use of the zebrafish for cardiovascular research. We summarize previous studies with the use of this organism to model such processes as thrombosis, collateral vessel development, inflammation, cardiomyopathy, and cardiac regeneration, evaluate its promise for novel drug discovery, and consider where the zebrafish fits into the framework of existing cardiovascular models.