This guide will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
In this guide you will learn:
- How to evaluate target biology in a particular animal model
- How to assess side effects from in vivo studies
- How to view model organisms in which a given relationship was observed
Causaly Species and Study Type filters
In biomedical research, animal studies are important in understanding disease pathophysiology, gene/protein regulation, and toxicity effects. Scientific findings from animal models enable scientists to prioritize biologically relevant and safe targets that are more likely to be translatable to humans.
In Causaly, you can categorize evidence by human, animal species, as well as study type by making use of the “Species” and “Study Type” filters (Figure 1). The “Species” categories refer to the most widely employed model organisms such as mouse, rat, zebrafish, yeast, as well as studies in human, while the “Study Type” filter prioritizes results from in vivo studies.
Figure 1: The “Species” and “Study Type” filters. The numbers in brackets indicate the number of results described in each experimental model.
The categorization has the following key features and benefits:
- Feasibility – Evaluate target biology based on its expression, function, and associated cellular responses in different animal models.
- Toxicity – Examine any effects that may cause safety concerns when the target is induced or inhibited in relevant models.
- Experimental Design – Identify the disease models employed in previous investigations to help design your own experiments.
Evaluate target biology in a particular animal model
Use Case: Diseases caused by KRAS in zebrafish
To explore this use case in Causaly, use Intelligent Search to find diseases caused by KRAS.
In the filter panel, expand the “Species” filter to see the classes of model organisms in which KRAS-associated diseases were observed.
Further expand the categories to explore the specific model organisms. In this case, specify Animals > Zebrafish to find diseases caused by KRAS in zebrafish (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Diseases affected by KRAS in zebrafish.
Explore the search results here. Click on a result, such as liver cancer, to see the supporting evidence from zebrafish studies (Figure 3).
Figure 3: The “Zebrafish” filter surfaces documents with supporting observations from zebrafish.
Assess side effects from in vivo studies
Use Case: Side effects of BRAF inhibitors in vivo
Assess the safety of BRAF inhibitors in living organisms (in vivo). In this example, use Intelligent Search to find side effects of BRAF inhibitors.
In the filter panel, expand the “Study Type” filter and specify “In vivo” to see results from in vivo studies (link).
Further refine to humans by selecting the Species > Human filter to examine side effects of BRAF inhibitors observed in human in vivo studies (Figure 4). Explore the search results here.
Figure 4: Side effects of BRAF inhibitors from human in vivo studies.
View model organisms in which a given relationship was observed
Use Case: Model organisms in which TP53-cell cycle arrest linkage was observed
Validate the relationship between TP53 and cell cycle arrest by exploring the model organisms in which the association was observed. This information can also support your experimental design in your own studies by helping you select the relevant disease models.
In this example, use Intelligent Search to find all direct relationships between TP53 and cell cycle arrest from the literature. By examining the “Species” categories, TP53 is associated with cell cycle arrest in humans, various animal models, and microorganisms such as yeast (Figure 5).
Specify Microorganisms > Yeast to find the supporting evidence described in yeast. Explore the search results here.
Figure 5: Breakdown of the model organisms in which TP53-cell cycle arrest linkage was observed.
What if I want to search for another species?
If the species of interest is not listed under the “Species” filter, add it as a keyword in the search field to refine the search context. For example, find diseases caused by FGF23 in cats by including the keyword “cats” in the search (link) (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Add the species as an additional keyword in the search for any other model organisms.