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Can Zebrafish be used to Identify Developmentally Neurotoxic Chemicals
Citation:
Padilla, S. Can Zebrafish be used to Identify Developmentally Neurotoxic Chemicals. International Neurotoxicology Association, Montreal, CANADA, June 27 - July 01, 2015.
Impact/Purpose:
Invited Presentation at the International Neurotoxicology Association Mtg./Canada 6/2015
Description:
Can Zebrafish be Used to Identify Developmentally Neurotoxic Chemicals? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is evaluating methods to screen and prioritize large numbers of chemicals for developmental neurotoxicity. We are exploring behavioral methods using zebrafish by designing a behavioral testing paradigm capable of assessing the effects of sublethal and sub-teratogenic concentrations of developmental neurotoxicants. The behavioral paradigm simultaneously tests individual 6 day old zebrafish under both light and dark conditions in a 96-well plate using a video tracking system. By controlling the duration and intensity of light, we are able to assess changes in locomotion during light-dark transitions, and adaptation to both light and dark during approximately 1-2 hours of testing. The testing format allows evaluation of large numbers of larvae, chemicals and chemical concentrations. Using this paradigm we have tested a training set of chemicals that are either known to or generally considered positive or negative controls for producing developmental neurotoxicity in mammals. We have found that many developmentally neurotoxic compounds perturb behavior at sub-teratogenic doses, while many developmentally non-neurotoxic compounds do not perturb behavior. Exposure to developmental neurotoxicants may alter the overall level of activity in light and dark conditions and/or the pattern of activity. Therefore, results from the training set indicate that careful behavioral evaluation of zebrafish larvae may be able to identify some mammalian developmental neurotoxicants. This abstract may not necessarily reflect official Agency policy.Research supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency