Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Metabolism

Drug discovery goes for a swim

Nature Chemical Biology volume 9, pages 68–69 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Whole-organism screening is emerging as a promising alternative to cell-based assays, particularly for the study of processes that integrate information across cells and tissues. High-throughput screening of zebrafish larvae has enabled the discovery of small molecules that lower blood glucose levels and alleviate pathological symptoms in a mouse model of obesity and diabetes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Discovery of glucose lowering effects of TSPO ligands by zebrafish screening.

Katie Vicari

References

  1. World Health Organization. Global health risks: mortality and burden of disease attributable to selected major risks 9 (World Health Organization, 2009).

  2. Moller, D.E. Cell Metab. 15, 19–24 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Gut, P. et al. Nat. Chem. Biol. 9, 97–104 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Swinney, D.C. & Anthony, J. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 10, 507–519 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Peterson, R.T. & Fishman, M.C. Methods Cell Biol. 105, 525–541 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Santoriello, C. & Zon, L.I. J. Clin. Invest. 122, 2337–2343 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Clifton, J.D. et al. PLoS ONE 5, e12386 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Gonzalez-Polo, R.A. et al. Oncogene 24, 7503–7513 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Papadopoulos, V. et al. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 27, 402–409 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Rupprecht, R. et al. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 9, 971–988 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Jinkuk Choi and Peter Tontonoz are at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.,

    Jinkuk Choi & Peter Tontonoz

Authors
  1. Jinkuk Choi
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter Tontonoz
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Tontonoz.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Choi, J., Tontonoz, P. Drug discovery goes for a swim. Nat Chem Biol 9, 68–69 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1167

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1167

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research