Modelling Retinal Vascular Diseases in Zebrafish

Vascular diseases affecting the retina such as diabetic retinopathy (DR), age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) are important causes of visual impairment at all ages. The common characteristic of those diseases is pathological angiogenesis. Although several studies are available, there are still many unknowns regarding the mechanisms of pathological angiogenesis in the eye. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents are the commonly used treatment options for retinal vascular diseases. However, there has been ongoing research to find more efficient and cost-effective drugs. Zebrafish, as a model organism, provides many advantages to researchers. Besides general features such as high fecundity, optically transparent embryos, and easy maintenance, zebrafish and human retinal vasculature have similarities in many aspects. The availability of transgenic lines carrying fluorescent endothelial cell reporters makes them more popular for vascular research. Therefore, zebrafish becomes a choice of in vivo model organism for studying retinal vascular diseases. This chapter presents an overview of the zebrafish ocular vasculature and the utility of zebrafish models for solving the research questions about retinal vascular diseases.