Modulation of sleep behavior in zebrafish larvae by pharmacological targeting of the orexin receptor.

New pharmacological approaches that target orexin receptors (OXRs) are being developed to treat sleep disorders such as insomnia and narcolepsy, with fewer side effects than existing treatments. Orexins are neuropeptides that exert excitatory effects on postsynaptic neurons via the OXRs, and are important in regulating sleep/wake states. To date, there are three FDA-approved dual orexin receptor antagonists for the treatment of insomnia, and several small molecule oral OX2R (OXR type 2) agonists are in the pipeline for addressing the orexin deficiency in narcolepsy. To find new hypnotics and psychostimulants, rodents have been the model of choice, but they are costly and have substantially different sleep patterns to humans. As an alternative model, zebrafish larvae that like humans are diurnal and show peak daytime activity and rest at night offer several potential advantages including the ability for high throughput screening. To pharmacologically validate the use of a zebrafish model in the discovery of new compounds, we aimed in this study to evaluate the functionality of a set of known small molecule OX2R agonists and antagonists on human and zebrafish OXRs and to probe their effects on the behavior of zebrafish larvae. To this end, we developed an in vitro IP-One Homogeneous Time Resolved Fluorescence (HTRF) immunoassay, and in vivo locomotor assays that record the locomotor activity of zebrafish larvae under physiological light conditions as well as under dark-light triggers. We demonstrate that the functional IP-One test is a good predictor of biological activity in vivo. Moreover, the behavioral data show that a high-throughput assay that records the locomotor activity of zebrafish throughout the evening, night and morning is able to distinguish between OXR agonists and antagonists active on the zebrafish OXR. Conversely, a locomotor assay with alternating 30 min dark-light transitions throughout the day is not able to distinguish between the two sets of compounds, indicating the importance of circadian rhythm to their pharmacological activity. Overall, the results show that a functional IP-one test in combination with a behavioral assay using zebrafish is well-suited as a discovery platform to find novel compounds that target OXRs for the treatment of sleep disorders.

From the North Sea to Drug Repurposing, the Antiseizure Activity of Halimide and Plinabulin.

PharmaSea performed large-scale in vivo screening of marine natural product (MNP) extracts, using zebrafish embryos and larvae, to identify compounds with the potential to treat epilepsy. In this study, we report the discovery of two new antiseizure compounds, the 2,5-diketopiperazine halimide and its semi-synthetic analogue, plinabulin. Interestingly, these are both known microtubule destabilizing agents, and plinabulin could have the potential for drug repurposing, as it is already in clinical trials for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Both halimide and plinabulin were found to have antiseizure activity in the larval zebrafish pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) seizure model via automated locomotor analysis and non-invasive local field potential recordings. The efficacy of plinabulin was further characterized in animal models of drug-resistant seizures, i.e., the larval zebrafish ethyl ketopentenoate (EKP) seizure model and the mouse 6 Hz psychomotor seizure model. Plinabulin was observed to be highly effective against EKP-induced seizures, on the behavioral and electrophysiological level, and showed activity in the mouse model. These data suggest that plinabulin could be of interest for the treatment of drug-resistant seizures. Finally, the investigation of two functional analogues, colchicine and indibulin, which were observed to be inactive against EKP-induced seizures, suggests that microtubule depolymerization does not underpin plinabulin's antiseizure action.

Comparative Antiseizure Analysis of Diverse Natural Coumarin Derivatives in Zebrafish.

Coumarins are a well-known group of plant secondary metabolites with various pharmacological activities, including antiseizure activity. In the search for new antiseizure drugs (ASDs) to treat epilepsy, it is yet unclear which types of coumarins are particularly interesting as a systematic analysis has not been reported. The current study performed behavioral antiseizure activity screening of 18 different coumarin derivatives in the larval zebrafish pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) model using locomotor measurements. Activity was confirmed for seven compounds, which lowered seizure-like behavior as follows: oxypeucedanin 38%, oxypeucedanin hydrate 74%, notopterol 54%, nodakenetin 29%, hyuganin C 35%, daphnoretin 65%, and pimpinellin 60%. These coumarins, together with nodakenin, underwent further antiepileptiform analysis by local field potential recordings from the zebrafish opticum tectum (midbrain). All of them, except for nodakenetin, showed pronounced antiepileptiform activity, decreasing PTZ-induced elevation in power spectral density (PSD) by 83-89% for oxypeucedanin, oxypeucedanin hydrate, and notopterol, 77% for nodakenin, 26% for nodakenetin, 65% for hyuganin C, 88% for daphnoretin, and 81% for pimpinellin. These data demonstrate the potential of diverse coumarin scaffolds for ASD discovery. Finally, the structural differences between active and inactive coumarins were investigated in silico for oxypeucedanin hydrate and byacangelicin for their interaction with GABA-transaminase, a hypothetical target.

Pericardial Injection of Kainic Acid Induces a Chronic Epileptic State in Larval Zebrafish.

Epilepsy is a common disorder of the brain characterized by spontaneous recurrent seizures, which develop gradually during a process called epileptogenesis. The mechanistic processes underlying the changes of brain tissue and networks toward increased seizure susceptibility are not fully understood. In rodents, injection of kainic acid (KA) ultimately leads to the development of spontaneous epileptic seizures, reflecting similar neuropathological characteristics as seen in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Although this model has significantly contributed to increased knowledge of epileptogenesis, it is technically demanding, costly to operate and hence not suitable for high-throughput screening of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Zebrafish, a vertebrate with complementary advantages to rodents, is an established animal model for epilepsy research. Here, we generated a novel KA-induced epilepsy model in zebrafish larvae that we functionally and pharmacologically validated. KA was administered by pericardial injection at an early zebrafish larval stage. The epileptic phenotype induced was examined by quantification of seizure-like behavior using automated video recording, and of epileptiform brain activity measured via local field potential (LFP) recordings. We also assessed GFP-labeled GABAergic and RFP-labeled glutamatergic neurons in double transgenic KA-injected zebrafish larvae, and examined the GABA and glutamate levels in the larval heads by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (LC-MS/MS). Finally, KA-injected larvae were exposed to five commonly used AEDs by immersion for pharmacological characterization of the model. Shortly after injection, KA induced a massive damage and inflammation in the zebrafish brain and seizure-like locomotor behavior. An abnormal reorganization of brain circuits was observed, a decrease in both GABAergic and glutamatergic neuronal population and their associated neurotransmitters. Importantly, these changes were accompanied by spontaneous and continuous epileptiform brain discharges starting after a short latency period, as seen in KA rodent models and reminiscent of human pathology. Three out of five AEDs tested rescued LFP abnormalities but did not affect the seizure-like behavior. Taken together, for the first time we describe a chemically-induced larval zebrafish epilepsy model offering unique insights into studying epileptogenic processes in vivo and suitable for high-throughput AED screening purposes and rapid genetic investigations.

Using Zebrafish as a Disease Model to Study Fibrotic Disease.

In drug discovery, often animal models are used that mimic human diseases as closely as possible. These animal models can be used to address various scientific questions, such as testing and evaluation of new drugs, as well as understanding the pathogenesis of diseases. Currently, the most commonly used animal models in the field of fibrosis are rodents. Unfortunately, rodent models of fibrotic disease are costly and time-consuming to generate. In addition, present models are not very suitable for screening large compounds libraries. To overcome these limitations, there is a need for new in vivo models. Zebrafish has become an attractive animal model for preclinical studies. An expanding number of zebrafish models of human disease have been documented, for both acute and chronic diseases. A deeper understanding of the occurrence of fibrosis in zebrafish will contribute to the development of new and potentially improved animal models for drug discovery. These zebrafish models of fibrotic disease include, among others, cardiovascular disease models, liver disease models (categorized into Alcoholic Liver Diseases (ALD) and Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease (NALD)), and chronic pancreatitis models. In this review, we give a comprehensive overview of the usage of zebrafish models in fibrotic disease studies, highlighting their potential for high-throughput drug discovery and current technical challenges.

Efficacy of Fenfluramine and Norfenfluramine Enantiomers and Various Antiepileptic Drugs in a Zebrafish Model of Dravet Syndrome.

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a rare genetic encephalopathy that is characterized by severe seizures and highly resistant to commonly used antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). In 2020, FDA has approved fenfluramine (FFA) for treatment of seizures associated with DS. However, the clinically used FFA is a racemic mixture (i.e. (±)-FFA), that is substantially metabolized to norfenfluramine (norFFA), and it is presently not known whether the efficacy of FFA is due to a single enantiomer of FFA, or to both, and whether the norFFA enantiomers also contribute significantly. In this study, the antiepileptic activity of enantiomers of FFA (i.e. (+)-FFA and (-)-FFA) and norFFA (i.e. (+)-norFFA and (-)-norFFA) was explored using the zebrafish scn1Lab-/- mutant model of DS. To validate the experimental conditions used, we assessed the activity of various AEDs typically used in the fight against DS, including combination therapy. Overall, our results are highly consistent with the treatment algorithm proposed by the updated current practice in the clinical management of DS. Our results show that (+)-FFA, (-)-FFA and (+)-norFFA displayed significant antiepileptic effects in the preclinical model, and thus can be considered as compounds actively contributing to the clinical efficacy of FFA. In case of (-)-norFFA, the results were less conclusive. We also investigated the uptake kinetics of the enantiomers of FFA and norFFA in larval zebrafish heads. The data show that the total uptake of each compound increased in a time-dependent fashion. A somewhat similar uptake was observed for the (+)-norFFA and (-)-norFFA, implying that the levo/dextrotation of the structure did not dramatically affect the uptake. Significantly, when comparing (+)-FFA with the less lipophilic (+)-norFFA, the data clearly show that the nor-metabolite of FFA is taken up less than the parent compound.

Identification of host factors binding to dengue and Zika virus subgenomic RNA by efficient yeast three-hybrid screens of the human ORFeome.

Flaviviruses such as the dengue (DENV) and the Zika virus (ZIKV) are important human pathogens causing around 100 million symptomatic infections each year. During infection, small subgenomic flavivirus RNAs (sfRNAs) are formed inside the infected host cell as a result of incomplete degradation of the viral RNA genome by cellular exoribonuclease XRN1. Although the full extent of sfRNA functions is to be revealed, these non-coding RNAs are key virulence factors and their detrimental effects on multiple cellular processes seem to consistently involve molecular interactions with RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Discovery of such sfRNA-binding host-factors has followed established biochemical pull-down approaches skewed towards highly abundant proteins hampering proteome-wide coverage. Yeast three-hybrid (Y3H) systems represent an attractive alternative approach. To facilitate proteome-wide screens for RBP, we revisited and improved existing RNA-Y3H methodology by (1) implementing full-length ORF libraries in combination with (2) efficient yeast mating to increase screening depth and sensitivity, and (3) stringent negative controls to eliminate over-representation of non-specific RNA-binders. These improvements were validated employing the well-characterized interaction between DDX6 (DEAD-box helicase 6) and sfRNA of DENV as paradigm. Our advanced Y3H system was used to screen for human proteins binding to DENV and ZIKV sfRNA, resulting in a list of 69 putative sfRNA-binders, including several previously reported as well as numerous novel RBP host factors. Our methodology requiring no sophisticated infrastructure or analytic pipeline may be employed for the discovery of meaningful RNA-protein interactions at large scale in other fields.

Zebrafish-Based Screening of Antiseizure Plants Used in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Magnolia officinalis Extract and Its Constituents Magnolol and Honokiol Exhibit Potent Anticonvulsant Activity in a Therapy-Resistant Epilepsy Model.

With the aim to discover interesting lead compounds that could be further developed into compounds active against pharmacoresistant epilepsies, we first collected 14 medicinal plants used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) against epilepsy. Of the six extracts that tested positive in a pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) behavioral zebrafish model, only the ethanol and acetone extracts from Magnolia officinalis (M. officinalis) also showed effective antiseizure activity in the ethylketopentenoate (EKP) zebrafish model. The EKP model is regarded as an interesting discovery platform to find mechanistically novel antiseizure drugs, as it responds poorly to a large number of marketed anti-epileptics. We then demonstrated that magnolol and honokiol, two major constituents of M. officinalis, displayed an effective behavioral and electrophysiological antiseizure activity in both the PTZ and the EKP models. Out of six structural analogues tested, only 4-O-methylhonokiol was active and to a lesser extent tetrahydromagnolol, whereas the other analogues (3,3'-dimethylbiphenyl, 2,2'-biphenol, 2-phenylphenol, and 3,3',5,5'-tetra-tert-butyl-[1,1'-biphenyl]-2,2'-diol) were not consistently active in the aforementioned assays. Finally, magnolol was also active in the 6 Hz psychomotor mouse model, an acute therapy-resistant rodent model, thereby confirming the translation of the findings from zebrafish larvae to mice in the field of epilepsy. We also developed a fast and automated power spectral density (PSD) analysis of local field potential (LFP) recordings. The PSD results are in agreement with the visual analysis of LFP recordings using Clampfit software and manually counting the epileptiform events. Taken together, screening extracts of single plants employed in TCM, using a combination of zebrafish- and mouse-based assays, allowed us to identify allyl biphenol as a chemical scaffold for the future development of compounds with potential activity against therapy-resistant epilepsies.

Zebrafish-Based Discovery of Antiseizure Compounds from the North Sea: Isoquinoline Alkaloids TMC-120A and TMC-120B.

There is a high need for the development of new and improved antiseizure drugs (ASDs) to treat epilepsy. Despite the potential of marine natural products (MNPs), the EU marine biodiscovery consortium PharmaSea has made the only effort to date to perform ASD discovery based on large-scale screening of MNPs. To this end, the embryonic zebrafish photomotor response assay and the larval zebrafish pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) model were used to screen MNP extracts for neuroactivity and antiseizure activity, respectively. Here we report the identification of the two known isoquinoline alkaloids TMC-120A and TMC-120B as novel antiseizure compounds, which were isolated by bioactivity-guided purification from the marine-derived fungus Aspergillus insuetus. TMC-120A and TMC-120B were observed to significantly lower PTZ-induced seizures and epileptiform brain activity in the larval zebrafish PTZ seizure model. In addition, their structural analogues TMC-120C, penicisochroman G, and ustusorane B were isolated and also significantly lowered PTZ-induced seizures. Finally, TMC-120A and TMC-120B were investigated in a mouse model of drug-resistant focal seizures. Compound treatment significantly shortened the seizure duration, thereby confirming their antiseizure activity. These data underscore the possibility to translate findings in zebrafish to mice in the field of epilepsy and the potential of the marine environment for ASD discovery.

Bioassay-guided isolation of anti-seizure principles from Semen Pharbitidis using a zebrafish pentylenetetrazol seizure model.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Semen Pharbitidis, the seeds of Pharbitis nil (Linn.) Choisy (Convolvulaceae) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal plant used for treating helminthiasis and epilepsy in China. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aims to identify the anti-seizure components from Semen Pharbitidis. METHODS: A bioassay-guided isolation of anti-seizure compounds from Semen Pharbitidis was performed using a zebrafish pentylenetetrazol seizure model. The structures of active compounds were elucidated by high resolution mass spectrometry. The fragments of active compounds were tested for anti-seizure activity as well. RESULTS: The bioassay-guided isolation of ethanol extract of Semen Pharbitidis led to a group of resin glucosides, namely pharbitin. One of the fragments of pharbitin, 2-methylbutyric acid, also showed anti-seizure activity. CONCLUSIONS: We provided further experimental scientific evidence to support the traditional use of Semen Pharbitidis for the treatment of epilepsy. Pharbitin was identified to be the main anti-seizure component in Semen Pharbitidis.

Zebrafish-Based Discovery of Antiseizure Compounds from the Red Sea: Pseurotin A2 and Azaspirofuran A.

In search for novel antiseizure drugs (ASDs), the European FP7-funded PharmaSea project used zebrafish embryos and larvae as a drug discovery platform to screen marine natural products to identify promising antiseizure hits in vivo for further development. Within the framework of this project, seven known heterospirocyclic γ-lactams, namely, pseurotin A, pseurotin A2, pseurotin F1, 11- O-methylpseurotin A, pseurotin D, azaspirofuran A, and azaspirofuran B, were isolated from the bioactive marine fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, and their antiseizure activity was evaluated in the larval zebrafish pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) seizure model. Pseurotin A2 and azaspirofuran A were identified as antiseizure hits, while their close chemical analogues were inactive. Besides, electrophysiological analysis from the zebrafish midbrain demonstrated that pseurotin A2 and azaspirofuran A also ameliorate PTZ-induced epileptiform discharges. Next, to determine whether these findings translate to mammalians, both compounds were analyzed in the mouse 6 Hz (44 mA) psychomotor seizure model. They lowered the seizure duration dose-dependently, thereby confirming their antiseizure properties and suggesting activity against drug-resistant seizures. Finally, in a thorough ADMET assessment, pseurotin A2 and azaspirofuran A were found to be drug-like. Based on the prominent antiseizure activity in both species and the drug-likeness, we propose pseurotin A2 and azaspirofuran A as lead compounds that are worth further investigation for the treatment of epileptic seizures. This study not only provides the first evidence of antiseizure activity of pseurotins and azaspirofurans, but also demonstrates the value of the zebrafish model in (marine) natural product drug discovery in general, and for ASD discovery in particular.

Methylated flavonoids as anti-seizure agents: Naringenin 4',7-dimethyl ether attenuates epileptic seizures in zebrafish and mouse models.

Epilepsy is a neurological disease that affects more than 70 million people worldwide and is characterized by the presence of spontaneous unprovoked recurrent seizures. Existing anti-seizure drugs (ASDs) have side effects and fail to control seizures in 30% of patients due to drug resistance. Hence, safer and more efficacious drugs are sorely needed. Flavonoids are polyphenolic structures naturally present in most plants and consumed daily with no adverse effects reported. These structures have shown activity in several seizure and epilepsy animal models through allosteric modulation of GABAA receptors, but also via potent anti-inflammatory action in the brain. As such, dietary flavonoids offer an interesting source for ASD and anti-epileptogenic drug (AED) discovery, but their pharmaceutical potential is often hampered by metabolic instability and low oral bioavailability. It has been argued that their drug-likeness can be improved via methylation of the free hydroxyl groups, thereby dramatically enhancing metabolic stability and membrane transport, facilitating absorption and highly increasing bioavailability. Since no scientific data is available regarding the use of methylated flavonoids in the fight against epilepsy, we studied naringenin (NRG), kaempferol (KFL), and three methylated derivatives, i.e., naringenin 7-O-methyl ether (NRG-M), naringenin 4',7-dimethyl ether (NRG-DM), and kaempferide (4'-O-methyl kaempferol) (KFD) in the zebrafish pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) seizure model. We demonstrate that the methylated flavanones NRG-DM and NRG-M are highly effective against PTZ-induced seizures in larval zebrafish, whereas NRG and the flavonols KFL and KFD possess only a limited activity. Moreover, we show that NRG-DM is active in two standard acute mouse seizure models, i.e., the timed i.v. PTZ seizure model and the 6-Hz psychomotor seizure model. Based on these results, NRG-DM is proposed as a lead compound that is worth further investigation for the treatment of generalized seizures and drug-resistant focal seizures. Our data therefore highlights the potential of methylated flavonoids in the search for new and improved ASDs.

mTOR-related neuropathology in mutant tsc2 zebrafish: Phenotypic, transcriptomic and pharmacological analysis.

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare, genetic disease caused by loss-of-function mutations in either TSC1 or TSC2. Patients with TSC are neurologically characterized by the presence of abnormal brain structure, intractable epilepsy and TSC-associated neuropsychiatric disorders. Given the lack of effective long-term treatments for TSC, there is a need to gain greater insight into TSC-related pathophysiology and to identify and develop new treatments. In this work we show that homozygous tsc2-/- mutant zebrafish larvae, but not tsc2+/- and WT larvae, display enlarged brains, reduced locomotor behavior and epileptiform discharges at 7dpf. In addition, we pharmacologically validated the TSC model by demonstrating the dramatic rescue effect of pericardially injected rapamycin, a well-known mTOR inhibitor, on selected behavioral read-outs and at the molecular level. By means of trancriptome profiling we also acquired more insight into the neuropathology of TSC, and as a result were able to highlight possible new treatment targets. The gene expression profiles of WT and tsc2+/- larvae revealed 117 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), while between WT and tsc2-/- larvae and tsc2+/- and tsc2-/- larvae there were 1414 and 1079 DEGs, respectively. Pathway enrichment analysis from the WT and tsc2-/- DEGs, identified 14 enriched pathways from the up-regulated genes and 6 enriched pathways from the down-regulated genes. Moreover, genes related to inflammation and immune response were up-regulated in the heads of tsc2-/- larvae, in line with the findings in human brain tissue where inflammatory and immune responses appear to be major hallmarks of TSC. Taken together, our phenotypic, transcriptomic and pharmacological analysis identified the tsc2-/- zebrafish as a preclinical model that mirrors well aspects of the human condition and delineated relevant TSC-related biological pathways. The model may be of value for future TSC-related drug discovery and development programs.

Automated analysis of brain activity for seizure detection in zebrafish models of epilepsy.

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition, with over 30% of cases unresponsive to treatment. Zebrafish larvae show great potential to serve as an animal model of epilepsy in drug discovery. Thanks to their high fecundity and relatively low cost, they are amenable to high-throughput screening. However, the assessment of seizure occurrences in zebrafish larvae remains a bottleneck, as visual analysis is subjective and time-consuming. NEW METHOD: For the first time, we present an automated algorithm to detect epileptic discharges in single-channel local field potential (LFP) recordings in zebrafish. First, candidate seizure segments are selected based on their energy and length. Afterwards, discriminative features are extracted from each segment. Using a labeled dataset, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier is trained to learn an optimal feature mapping. Finally, this SVM classifier is used to detect seizure segments in new signals. RESULTS: We tested the proposed algorithm both in a chemically-induced seizure model and a genetic epilepsy model. In both cases, the algorithm delivered similar results to visual analysis and found a significant difference in number of seizures between the epileptic and control group. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: Direct comparison with multichannel techniques or methods developed for different animal models is not feasible. Nevertheless, a literature review shows that our algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art techniques in terms of accuracy, precision and specificity, while maintaining a reasonable sensitivity. CONCLUSION: Our seizure detection system is a generic, time-saving and objective method to analyze zebrafish LPF, which can replace visual analysis and facilitate true high-throughput studies.

Use of Zebrafish Larvae as a Multi-Endpoint Platform to Characterize the Toxicity Profile of Silica Nanoparticles.

Nanomaterials are being extensively produced and applied in society. Human and environmental exposures are, therefore, inevitable and so increased attention is being given to nanotoxicity. While silica nanoparticles (NP) are one of the top five nanomaterials found in consumer and biomedical products, their toxicity profile is poorly characterized. In this study, we investigated the toxicity of silica nanoparticles with diameters 20, 50 and 80 nm using an in vivo zebrafish platform that analyzes multiple endpoints related to developmental, cardio-, hepato-, and neurotoxicity. Results show that except for an acceleration in hatching time and alterations in the behavior of zebrafish embryos/larvae, silica NPs did not elicit any developmental defects, nor any cardio- and hepatotoxicity. The behavioral alterations were consistent for both embryonic photomotor and larval locomotor response and were dependent on the concentration and the size of silica NPs. As embryos and larvae exhibited a normal touch response and early hatching did not affect larval locomotor response, the behavior changes observed are most likely the consequence of modified neuroactivity. Overall, our results suggest that silica NPs do not cause any developmental, cardio- or hepatotoxicity, but they pose a potential risk for the neurobehavioral system.

A KNIME-Based Analysis of the Zebrafish Photomotor Response Clusters the Phenotypes of 14 Classes of Neuroactive Molecules.

Recently, the photomotor response (PMR) of zebrafish embryos was reported as a robust behavior that is useful for high-throughput neuroactive drug discovery and mechanism prediction. Given the complexity of the PMR, there is a need for rapid and easy analysis of the behavioral data. In this study, we developed an automated analysis workflow using the KNIME Analytics Platform and made it freely accessible. This workflow allows us to simultaneously calculate a behavioral fingerprint for all analyzed compounds and to further process the data. Furthermore, to further characterize the potential of PMR for mechanism prediction, we performed PMR analysis of 767 neuroactive compounds covering 14 different receptor classes using the KNIME workflow. We observed a true positive rate of 25% and a false negative rate of 75% in our screening conditions. Among the true positives, all receptor classes were represented, thereby confirming the utility of the PMR assay to identify a broad range of neuroactive molecules. By hierarchical clustering of the behavioral fingerprints, different phenotypical clusters were observed that suggest the utility of PMR for mechanism prediction for adrenergics, dopaminergics, serotonergics, metabotropic glutamatergics, opioids, and ion channel ligands.

Pharmacological characterization of an antisense knockdown zebrafish model of Dravet syndrome: inhibition of epileptic seizures by the serotonin agonist fenfluramine.

Dravet syndrome (DS) is one of the most pharmacoresistant and devastating forms of childhood epilepsy syndromes. Distinct de novo mutations in the SCN1A gene are responsible for over 80% of DS cases. While DS is largely resistant to treatment with existing anti-epileptic drugs, promising results have been obtained in clinical trials with human patients treated with the serotonin agonist fenfluramine as an add-on therapeutic. We developed a zebrafish model of DS using morpholino antisense oligomers (MOs) targeting scn1Lab, the zebrafish ortholog of SCN1A. Zebrafish larvae with an antisense knockdown of scn1Lab (scn1Lab morphants) were characterized by automated behavioral tracking and high-resolution video imaging, in addition to measuring brain activity through local field potential recordings. Our findings reveal that scn1Lab morphants display hyperactivity, convulsive seizure-like behavior, loss of posture, repetitive jerking and a myoclonic seizure-like pattern. The occurrence of spontaneous seizures was confirmed by local field potential recordings of the forebrain, measuring epileptiform discharges. Furthermore, we show that these larvae are remarkably sensitive to hyperthermia, similar to what has been described for mouse models of DS, as well as for human DS patients. Pharmacological evaluation revealed that sodium valproate and fenfluramine significantly reduce epileptiform discharges in scn1Lab morphants. Our findings for this zebrafish model of DS are in accordance with clinical data for human DS patients. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating effective seizure inhibition of fenfluramine in an animal model of Dravet syndrome. Moreover, these results provide a basis for identifying novel analogs with improved activity and significantly milder or no side effects.