Deciphering Melanoma Cell States and Plasticity with Zebrafish Models

Abstract

Dynamic cellular heterogeneity underlies melanoma progression and therapy resistance. Advances in single-cell technologies have revealed an increasing number of tumor and microenvironment cell states in melanoma, but little is understood about their function in vivo. Zebrafish models are a powerful system for discovery, live imaging, and functional investigation of cell states throughout melanoma progression and treatment. By capturing dynamic melanoma states in living animals, zebrafish have the potential to resolve the complexity of melanoma heterogeneity from a single cell through disease processes within the context of the whole body, revealing novel cancer biology and therapeutic targets.