Produce mutant zebrafish for leukemia using CRISPR-CAS9

• Grant number: 24/10055-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology
• Principal Investigator: Ives Charlie da Silva
• Grantee: Larine Namiala Arruda Fernandes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/06316-9 - Development of a platform to test the efficacy and toxicity of new anticancer compounds for Leukemia in zebrafish model, AP.GR

Abstract

Figured as the main public health problem in the world, cancer has been one of the main causes of death for decades and, as a consequence, one of the main barriers to increasing life expectancy on the world stage. In most countries, it corresponds to the first or second cause of early death, before the age of 70, with drastic increases each year. In general, it is the disease with the highest mortality rate. Among cancers with these characteristics, we can highlight leukemia, which is a malignant disease of leukocytes, where numerous studies cite a significant increase in occurrences in recent years. The experiment will be carried out with the experimental model D. rerio due to its great sensitivity in quickly and efficiently absorbing compounds that are accumulated in different tissues, which confirms it as an excellent experimental model. The use of D. rerio (zebrafish) embryos can minimize the use of many animals in experiments due to their high dissemination and rapid rate of reproduction and development, as well as the low cost for maintenance and use in experiments. In recent decades, due to successive progress in research, experimental models have been used in innovative test applications and in-depth research such as testing new drugs. Therefore, the present study aims to study and establish a platform for designing efficacy and toxicity tests, mainly to prospect new substances with antineoplastic potential in healthy and unhealthy (leukemic) embryos, so that it is possible to test not only the toxicity potential as the therapeutic potential in combating leukemia, contributing to the development of potential new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of cancer in humans.