title: Comparative studies of Toll-like receptor signalling using zebrafish.
abstract: Zebrafish model systems for infectious disease are increasingly used for the functional analysis of molecular pattern recognition processes. These studies benefit from the high conservation level of all innate immune factors in vertebrates. Zebrafish studies are strategically well positioned for this because of the ease of comparisons with studies in other fish species of which the immune system also has been intensively studied, but that are currently still less amendable to detailed genetic or microscopic studies. In this paper we focus on Toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling factors, which currently are the best characterized in mammalian systems. We review the knowledge on TLR signalling in the context of recent advances in zebrafish studies and discuss possibilities for future approaches that can complement studies in cell cultures and rodent models. A focus in these comparisons is the role of negative control mechanisms in immune responses that appear very important in a whole organism to keep adverse systemic responses in check. We also pay much attention to comparisons with studies in common carp that is highly related to zebrafish and that because of its large body mass can complement immune studies in zebrafish.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences and Health, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Zakia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kanwal
authors.affiliation: Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, PO Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Geert F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Wiegertjes
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences and Health, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wouter J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Veneman
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences and Health, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Annemarie H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Meijer
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences and Health, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands. Electronic address: h.p.spaink@biology.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Herman P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Spaink
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005399:Fishes / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007239:Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary; D008322:Mammals / Q000276:immunology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors / Q000276:immunology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000276:immunology*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D051193:Toll-Like Receptors; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins
keywords: Infectious disease; Innate immunity; TLR; Toll-like receptors; Zebrafish