Patent ID: 8124056
Filing Date: 2012-02-28
Classification: A01K,A61K,C12N,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method of identifying a test compound or agent affecting lipid or cholesterol metabolism, or a combination thereof, in a vertebrate's digestive system by a screening assay in a teleost, the method comprising: providing a teleost, wherein organs of the teleost's digestive system are optically visible, permitting fluorescence contained therein to be seen directly; bathing the teleost in media comprising the test compound or agent, such that the test compound or agent is ingested or absorbed by the teleost in vivo; covalently linking a quenched or unquenched fluorescent moiety to the lipid or cholesterol, or combination thereof, being assayed in the teleost, such that the resulting labeled lipid or cholesterol is absorbed by the teleost's digestive system or function as substrates for target enzymes in the teleost's digestive system without impeding enzyme-substrate interaction; bathing the teleost in media comprising the labeled lipid or cholesterol, or a combination thereof, such that the labeled lipid or cholesterol is ingested or absorbed by the teleost in vivo, and uptake is seen in its digestive system; then screening for and detecting accumulated fluorescence in the digestive organs of the teleost as an indicator of a modulating effect of the ingested test compound or agent on the metabolic processing of the labeled lipid or cholesterol in the digestive system of the teleost; then quantifying intensity and rate of fluorescence in the processed or unprocessed fluorescently labeled lipid or cholesterol in the digestive organs of the screened teleost as compared to a wild-type teleost; and providing a readout of digestive organ function, physiology of the digestive system and organs, or metabolic lipid or cholesterol metabolism or processing, or combinations thereof, of the screened teleost, wherein differences in the intensity or rate of the fluorescence in the screened teleost, when compared with the teleost prior to uptake of the test compound or agent or with the wild-type teleost, indicates the modulating effect of the test compound or agent on lipid or cholesterol metabolism, or a combination thereof, in the vertebrate's digestive system.