Progress and perspective of silkworm as a model of human diseases for drug screening
10.16438/j.0513-4870.2015-0717
- VernacularTitle:家蚕作为人类疾病模型与用于药物筛选的研究进展及展望
- Author:
Min CHEN
1
;
Jiang-bo SONG
1
;
Zhi-quan LI
1
;
Dong-mei TANG
1
;
Xiao-ling TONG
1
;
Fang-yin DAI
1
Author Information
1. State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Laboratory for Sericulture Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Agricultural Ministry, Southwest University College of Biotechnology, Chongqing 400716, China
- Publication Type:REVIEWS
- Keywords:
Bombyx mori;
laboratory animal;
disease model;
drug screening assay;
drug evaluation
- From:
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica
2016;51(5):690-
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
As a typical representative of Lepidopteran insects, the silkworm, Bombyx mori, has numerous advantages, such as simple husbandry, highly prolific nature, short generation time, easily handled to be operated with moderate body size, clear genetic background and abundant mutation resources. Silkworm has not only been studied by the geneticists, but also been used as a new laboratory animal model of human disease and drug screening. There is a plenty of genetic resources in silkworm, some of which could be used as models of human genetic diseases, such as Phenylketonuria, Parkinson 's disease, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome and so on. Silkworm has also played a significant role in the study of pathogenesis of human pathogenic microorganisms. Moreover, silkworm could be used to evaluate the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics properties and safety of a new drug comprehensively and systematically. At the same time, it can be used in the high throughput drug screening assays to shorten the period of the new drug research and development. This review summarizes that the silkworm is an excellent model in the drug screening assays, and has a potential in application to the large-scale drug screening.
