Unique advantages of zebrafish larvae as a model for spinal cord regeneration

This review highlights the advantages of using zebrafish larvae to study spinal cord regeneration due to their optical transparency, simple anatomy, and complex behavior. These features, combined with the conservation of pro-regenerative signals between larval and adult stages, make them a promising system for identifying therapeutic approaches for human spinal cord injury. Zebrafish larvae offer unique experimental advantages, including in vivo imaging and high-throughput screening, which are difficult to implement in adult models. These approaches rely on optical transparency, anatomical simplicity, and behavioral complexity. The suitability of the larval zebrafish as an SCI model may be best understood in the context of fish CNS neurogenesis, which unlike in mammals is initially rapid but also never-ending.

• 1
  Spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish larvae is distinct from development, with injury-dependent responses such as immune cell infiltration and glial bridge formation.
• 2
  Pro-regenerative mechanisms, including Wnt and Fgf signaling pathways, and cellular responses are conserved between larval and adult zebrafish spinal cords.
• 3
  Larval zebrafish offer experimental advantages, such as in vivo imaging and high-throughput screening, due to their optical transparency and anatomical simplicity.