Zebrafish and Xenopus tadpoles:: Small animal models to study angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis

Small vertebrate organisms have emerged as key players in the post-genomic era for the functional characterization of novel genes on a high-throughput scale. In this context, the zebrafish embryos and Xenopus tadpoles represent attractive and valuable models to rapidly identify and characterize novel genes involved in angiogenesis and lymph angiogenesis-a significant task with a consequent impact on the design of more effective therapeutic strategies. The advantages of these two models will be discussed in the present review. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.