Fishing for Answers to Hemostatic and Thrombotic Disease: Genome Editing in Zebrafish

Over the past two decades, the teleost vertebrate (zebrafish) has emerged as a model for hemostasis and thrombosis. At genomic and functional levels, there is a high degree of conservation of the hemostatic system with that of mammals. Numerous features of the fish model offer unique advantages for investigating hemostasis and thrombosis. These include high fecundity, rapid and external development, optical transparency, and extensive functional homology with mammalian hemostasis and thrombosis. Zebrafish are particularly suited to genome-wide mutagenesis experiments for the study of modifier genes. They are also amenable to whole-organism small-molecule screens, a feature that is exceptionally relevant to hemostasis and thrombosis. Zebrafish coagulation factor knockouts that are in utero or neonatal lethal in mammals survive into adulthood before succumbing to hemorrhage or thrombosis, enabling studies not possible in mammals. In this illustrated review, we outline how zebrafish have been employed for the study of hemostasis and thrombosis using modern genome editing techniques, coagulation assays in larvae, and in vivo evaluation of patient-specific variants to infer causality and demonstrate pathogenicity. Zebrafish hemostasis and thrombosis models will continue to serve as a clinically directed basic research tool and powerful alternative to mammals for the development of new diagnostic markers and novel therapeutics for coagulation disorders through high-throughput genetic and small-molecule studies.