Xenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802) as a Model Organism for Bioscience: A Historic Review and Perspective

Abstract

In vitro systems have been mainly promoted by authorities to sustain research by following the 3Rs principle, but continuously increasing amounts of evidence point out that in vivo experimentation is also of extreme relevance. Xenopus laevis, an anuran amphibian, is a significant model organism in the study of evolutionary developmental biology, toxicology, ethology, neurobiology, endocrinology, immunology and tumor biology; thanks to the recent development of genome editing, it has also acquired a relevant position in the field of genetics. For these reasons, X. laevis appears to be a powerful and alternative model to the zebrafish for environmental and biomedical studies. Its life cycle, as well as the possibility to obtain gametes from adults during the whole year and embryos by in vitro fertilization, allows experimental studies of several biological endpoints, such as gametogenesis, embryogenesis, larval growth, metamorphosis and, of course, the young and adult stages. Moreover, with respect to alternative invertebrate and even vertebrate animal models, the X. laevis genome displays a higher degree of similarity with that of mammals. Here, we have reviewed the main available literature on the use of X. laevis in the biosciences and, inspired by Feymann’s revised view, “Plenty of room for biology at the bottom,” suggest that X. laevis is a very useful model for all possible studies.

Updates to the Alliance of Genome Resources central infrastructure

“…2023 ), is the first knowledgebase to join the Alliance since the founding members initiated the consortium. Xenopus is an amphibian frog species used extensively in biomedical research and in particular for experimental embryology, cell biology, and disease modeling with genome editing ( Carotenuto et al . 2023 ; Kostiuk and Khokha 2021 ).…”

Dilute to Enrich for Deeper Proteomics: A Yolk-Depleted Carrier for Limited Populations of Embryonic (Frog) Cells

“…Our goal in this study was to deepen detection and quantification toward low-abundance proteins from limited cell populations in the Xenopus species, where a dominant subcellular yolk proteome has historically hampered MS proteomics. We selected X. laevis as the biological model due to its important implications for health studies (reviewed in the literature ,, ), including but not limited to normal and diseased development and emerging prominence in cell differentiation, tissue induction, regeneration, and neurodevelopment . Our previous depletion of yolk platelets reduced a more than ∼90% yolk content to ∼30% and improved proteome detection .…”

“…75% of the mammalian proteome is comprised of ∼2,300 housekeeping proteins of high abundance, including but not limited to albumins, immunoglobulins, haptoglobins, and transferrin in tissues and plasma. 8 In the popular embryonic models of cell and developmental biology and neuroscience, such as the frog Xenopus species, 9 zebrafish, 10 and chick, 11 the interfering proteome is generally molecularly less diverse, nonetheless more severe than their mammalian counterparts. For example, yolk proteins make up >90% of the total proteome by concentration at the early stages of development in X. laevis.…”

Adverse Effect of Metallic Gold and Silver Nanoparticles on Xenopus laevis Embryogenesis

“…Therefore, this paper aims to assess the toxic potential of these two commonly used nanoparticles on the embryonic development of the anuran amphibian Xenopus laevis, an excellent model system for toxicity testing and a valid model for assessing nanoparticles' harmfulness [4,21]. Studies were conducted using a modified FETAX assay, developed specifically for the application of toxicity testing in this organism and to simulate environmental exposure [4,22].…”