Using zebrafish for pre-clinical brain haemorrhage research

Stroke is a disease caused by damage to the blood vessels of the brain which leads to disruption of the blood supply, resulting in severe disability and death in patients. To understand how stroke occurs, animal models of the disease are necessary. Current rodent models of stroke have improved our knowledge of the disease and we now know that stroke is associated with activation of the immune system and that this contributes to the brain damage seen when blood supply to
the brain is disrupted. However, there has been a complete failure to find any new treatments for stroke so it is essential we explore new approaches if we are to cure this disease. The aim of this project is to investigate the use of zebrafish as an alternative animal model to understand more about how the immune system and the blood vessels of the brain interact in stroke. In particular we want to use the zebrafish to study a type of stroke where there is bleeding (haemorhage) in the
brain. We will perform drug screening to identify chemicals which can reduce the symptoms of haemorrhage in these fish. We predict that if an immune response can be switched-off, then this could reduce the damage to the brain. If successful, these drugs may be considered as future medicines for stroke patients.