title: Zebrafish as a disease model for studying human hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Liver cancer is one of the world's most common cancers and the second leading cause of cancer deaths. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a primary hepatic cancer, accounts for 90%-95% of liver cancer cases. The pathogenesis of HCC consists of a stepwise process of liver damage that extends over decades, due to hepatitis, fatty liver, fibrosis, and cirrhosis before developing fully into HCC. Multiple risk factors are highly correlated with HCC, including infection with the hepatitis B or C viruses, alcohol abuse, aflatoxin exposure, and metabolic diseases. Over the last decade, genetic alterations, which include the regulation of multiple oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes and the activation of tumorigenesis-related pathways, have also been identified as important factors in HCC. Recently, zebrafish have become an important living vertebrate model organism, especially for translational medical research. In studies focusing on the biology of cancer, carcinogen induced tumors in zebrafish were found to have many similarities to human tumors. Several zebrafish models have therefore been developed to provide insight into the pathogenesis of liver cancer and the related drug discovery and toxicology, and to enable the evaluation of novel small-molecule inhibitors. This review will focus on illustrative examples involving the application of zebrafish models to the study of human liver disease and HCC, through transgenesis, genome editing technology, xenografts, drug discovery, and drug-induced toxic liver injury.
authors.affiliation: Jeng-Wei Lu, Yi-Ju Yang, Heng-An Liao, Liang-In Lin, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jeng-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Jeng-Wei Lu, Yi-Ju Yang, Heng-An Liao, Liang-In Lin, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Jung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Jeng-Wei Lu, Yi-Ju Yang, Heng-An Liao, Liang-In Lin, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Jeng-Wei Lu, Yi-Ju Yang, Heng-An Liao, Liang-In Lin, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Heng-An
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Jeng-Wei Lu, Yi-Ju Yang, Heng-An Liao, Liang-In Lin, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Ci
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ciou
authors.affiliation: Jeng-Wei Lu, Yi-Ju Yang, Heng-An Liao, Liang-In Lin, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Liang-In
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Jeng-Wei Lu, Yi-Ju Yang, Heng-An Liao, Liang-In Lin, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Da-Liang
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Ou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D005838:Genotype; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D010641:Phenotype; D012307:Risk Factors; D013045:Species Specificity; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029961:Zebrafish Proteins
keywords: Cancer model; Drug screening; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Liver disease; Zebrafish