Screening of anti-mycobacterial compounds in a naturally infected zebrafish larvae model

Abstract

Objectives: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a deadly human pathogen that causes the lung disease TB. M. tuberculosis latently infects a third of the world's population, resulting in ~1.5 million deaths per year. Due to the difficulties and expense of carrying out animal drug trials using M. tuberculosis and rodents, infections of the zebrafish Danio rerio with Mycobacterium marinum have become a useful surrogate. However, the infection methods described to date require specialized equipment and a high level of operator expertise. Methods: We investigated whether zebrafish larvae could be naturally infected with bioluminescently labelled M. marinum by immersion, and whether infected larvae coul..