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Sun H, Liu Y, Wu C, Ma LQ, Guan D, Hong H, Yu H, Lin H, Huang X, Gao P. Dihalogenated nitrophenols in drinking water: Prevalence, resistance to household treatment, and cardiotoxic impact on zebrafish embryo. ECO-ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH 2024; 3:183-191. [PMID: 38646095 PMCID: PMC11031730 DOI: 10.1016/j.eehl.2024.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Revised: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
Dihalogenated nitrophenols (2,6-DHNPs), an emerging group of aromatic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) detected in drinking water, have limited available information regarding their persistence and toxicological risks. The present study found that 2,6-DHNPs are resistant to major drinking water treatment processes (sedimentation and filtration) and households methods (boiling, filtration, microwave irradiation, and ultrasonic cleaning). To further assess their health risks, we conducted a series of toxicology studies using zebrafish embryos as the model organism. Our findings reveal that these emerging 2,6-DHNPs showed lethal toxicity 248 times greater than that of the regulated DBP, dichloroacetic acid. Specifically, at sublethal concentrations, exposure to 2,6-DHNPs generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), caused apoptosis, inhibited cardiac looping, and induced cardiac failure in zebrafish. Remarkably, the use of a ROS scavenger, N-acetyl-l-cysteine, considerably mitigated these adverse effects, emphasizing the essential role of ROS in 2,6-DHNP-induced cardiotoxicity. Our findings highlight the cardiotoxic potential of 2,6-DHNPs in drinking water even at low concentrations of 19 μg/L and the beneficial effect of N-acetyl-l-cysteine in alleviating the 2,6-DHNP-induced cardiotoxicity. This study underscores the urgent need for increased scrutiny of these emerging compounds in public health discussions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongjie Sun
- Key Laboratory of Watershed Earth Surface Processes and Ecological Security, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Yingying Liu
- Key Laboratory of Watershed Earth Surface Processes and Ecological Security, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Chunxiu Wu
- College of Chemistry and Life Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Lena Q. Ma
- Institute of Soil and Water Resources and Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Dongxing Guan
- Institute of Soil and Water Resources and Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Huachang Hong
- Key Laboratory of Watershed Earth Surface Processes and Ecological Security, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Haiying Yu
- Key Laboratory of Watershed Earth Surface Processes and Ecological Security, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Hongjun Lin
- Key Laboratory of Watershed Earth Surface Processes and Ecological Security, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Xianfeng Huang
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Ecological Treatment Technology of Urban Water Pollution, College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China
| | - Peng Gao
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, United States
- UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, United States
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2
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Zhong X, Chen J, Zhang Z, Zhu Q, Ji D, Ke W, Niu C, Wang C, Zhao N, Chen W, Jia K, Liu Q, Song M, Liu C, Wei Y. Development of an Automated Morphometric Approach to Assess Vascular Outcomes following Exposure to Environmental Chemicals in Zebrafish. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2024; 132:57001. [PMID: 38701112 PMCID: PMC11068156 DOI: 10.1289/ehp13214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Disruptions in vascular formation attributable to chemical insults is a pivotal risk factor or potential etiology of developmental defects and various disease settings. Among the thousands of chemicals threatening human health, the highly concerning groups prevalent in the environment and detected in biological monitoring in the general population ought to be prioritized because of their high exposure risks. However, the impacts of a large number of environmental chemicals on vasculature are far from understood. The angioarchitecture complexity and technical limitations make it challenging to analyze the entire vasculature efficiently and identify subtle changes through a high-throughput in vivo assay. OBJECTIVES We aimed to develop an automated morphometric approach for the vascular profile and assess the vascular morphology of health-concerning environmental chemicals. METHODS High-resolution images of the entire vasculature in Tg(fli1a:eGFP) zebrafish were collected using a high-content imaging platform. We established a deep learning-based quantitative framework, ECA-ResXUnet, combined with MATLAB to segment the vascular networks and extract features. Vessel scores based on the rates of morphological changes were calculated to rank vascular toxicity. Potential biomarkers were identified by vessel-endothelium-gene-disease integrative analysis. RESULTS Whole-trunk blood vessels and the cerebral vasculature in larvae exposed to 150 representative chemicals were automatically segmented as comparable to human-level accuracy, with sensitivity and specificity of 95.56% and 95.81%, respectively. Chemical treatments led to heterogeneous vascular patterns manifested by 31 architecture indexes, and the common cardinal vein (CCV) was the most affected vessel. The antipsychotic medicine haloperidol, flame retardant 2,2-bis(chloromethyl)trimethylenebis[bis(2-chloroethyl) phosphate], and tert-butylphenyl diphenyl phosphate ranked as the top three in vessel scores. Pesticides accounted for the largest group, with a vessel score of ≥ 1 , characterized by a remarkable inhibition of subintestinal venous plexus and delayed development of CCV. Multiple-concentration evaluation of nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) indicated a low-concentration effect on vascular impairment and a positive association between carbon chain length and benchmark concentration. Target vessel-directed single-cell RNA sequencing of f l i 1 a + cells from larvae treated with λ -cyhalothrin , perfluorohexanesulfonic acid, or benzylbutyl phthalate, along with vessel-endothelium-gene-disease integrative analysis, uncovered potential associations with vascular disorders and identified biomarker candidates. DISCUSSION This study provides a novel paradigm for phenotype-driven screenings of vascular-disrupting chemicals by converging morphological and transcriptomic profiles at a high-resolution level, serving as a powerful tool for large-scale toxicity tests. Our approach and the high-quality morphometric data facilitate the precise evaluation of vascular effects caused by environmental chemicals. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13214.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiali Zhong
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Junzhou Chen
- School of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhuyi Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qicheng Zhu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Di Ji
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Weijian Ke
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Congying Niu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Can Wang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Nan Zhao
- School of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wenquan Chen
- School of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Kunkun Jia
- School of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Qian Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Maoyong Song
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chunqiao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yanhong Wei
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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Wiegand J, Hoang J, Avila-Barnard S, Nemarugommula C, Ha M, Zhang S, Stapleton HM, Volz DC. Triphenyl phosphate-induced pericardial edema in zebrafish embryos is reversible following depuration in clean water. AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2023; 263:106699. [PMID: 37734274 PMCID: PMC10878734 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2023.106699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023]
Abstract
Triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) - a widely used organophosphate-based flame retardant - blocks cardiac looping during zebrafish development in a concentration-dependent manner, a phenotype that is dependent on disruption of embryonic osmoregulation and pericardial edema formation. However, it's currently unclear whether (1) TPHP-induced effects on osmoregulation are driven by direct TPHP-induced injury to the embryonic epidermis and (2) whether TPHP-induced pericardial edema is reversible or irreversible following cessation of exposure. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine whether TPHP-induced pericardial edema is reversible and whether TPHP causes injury to the embryonic epidermis by quantifying the number of DAPI-positive epidermal cells and analyzing the morphology of the yolk sac epithelium using scanning electron microscopy. First, we found that exposure to 5 μM TPHP from 24-72 h post-fertilization (hpf) did not increase prolactin - a hormone that regulates ions and water levels - in embryonic zebrafish, whereas high ionic strength exposure media was associated with elevated levels of prolactin. Second, we found that exposure to 5 μM TPHP from 24-72 hpf did not decrease DAPI-positive epidermal cells within the embryonic epithelium, and that co-exposure with 2.14 μM fenretinide - a synthetic retinoid that promotes epithelial wound repair - from 24-72 hpf did not mitigate the prevalence of TPHP-induced epidermal folds within the yolk sac epithelium when embryos were exposed within high ionic strength exposure media. Finally, we found that the pericardial area and body length of embryos exposed to 5 μM TPHP from 24-72 hpf were similar to vehicle-treated embryos at 120 hpf following transfer to clean water and depuration of TPHP from 72-120 hpf. Overall, our findings suggest that (1) the ionic strength of exposure media may influence the baseline physiology of zebrafish embryos; (2) TPHP does not cause direct injury to the embryonic epidermis; and (3) TPHP-induced effects on pericardial area and body length are reversible 48 h after transferring embryos to clean water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna Wiegand
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
| | - John Hoang
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
| | - Sarah Avila-Barnard
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
| | - Charvita Nemarugommula
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
| | - Megan Ha
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
| | - Sharon Zhang
- Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
| | - Heather M Stapleton
- Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
| | - David C Volz
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States.
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Hautanen V, Toimela T, Paparella M, Heinonen T. A Human Cell-based Assay to Assess the Induction of Vasculature Formation for Non-genotoxic Carcinogenicity Testing Purposes: A Pilot Study. Altern Lab Anim 2023:2611929231171165. [PMID: 37125451 DOI: 10.1177/02611929231171165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
The induction of vasculature formation is proposed to be a significant mechanism behind the non-genotoxic carcinogenicity of a chemical. The vasculature formation model used in this study is based on the coculture of human primary HUVECs and hASCs. This model was used to develop an assay to assess the induction of vasculature formation. Three assay protocols, based on different conditions, were developed and compared in order to identify the optimal conditions required. Some serum supplements and growth factors were observed to be essential for initiating vasculature formation. Of the studied putative positive reference chemicals, aspartame, sodium nitrite, bisphenol A and nicotine treatment led to a clear induction of vasculature formation, but arsenic and cadmium treatment only led to a slight increase. This human cell-based assay has the potential to be used as one test within a next generation testing battery, to assess the non-genotoxic carcinogenicity of a chemical through the mechanism of vasculature formation induction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veera Hautanen
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Tarja Toimela
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Martin Paparella
- Division of Medical Biochemistry, Biocenter, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Tuula Heinonen
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
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5
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Wiegand J, Avila-Barnard S, Nemarugommula C, Lyons D, Zhang S, Stapleton HM, Volz DC. Triphenyl phosphate-induced pericardial edema in zebrafish embryos is dependent on the ionic strength of exposure media. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2023; 172:107757. [PMID: 36680802 PMCID: PMC9974852 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Pericardial edema is commonly observed in zebrafish embryo-based chemical toxicity screens, and a mechanism underlying edema may be disruption of embryonic osmoregulation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify whether triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) - a widely used aryl phosphate ester-based flame retardant - induces pericardial edema via impacts on osmoregulation within embryonic zebrafish. In addition to an increase in TPHP-induced microridges in the embryonic yolk sac epithelium, an increase in ionic strength of exposure media exacerbated TPHP-induced pericardial edema when embryos were exposed from 24 to 72 h post-fertilization (hpf). However, there was no difference in embryonic sodium concentrations in situ within TPHP-exposed embryos relative to embryos exposed to vehicle (0.1% DMSO) from 24 to 72 hpf. Interestingly, increasing the osmolarity of exposure media with mannitol (an osmotic diuretic which mitigates TPHP-induced pericardial edema) and increasing the ionic strength of the exposure media (which exacerbates TPHP-induced pericardial edema) did not affect embryonic doses of TPHP, suggesting that TPHP uptake was not altered under these varying experimental conditions. Overall, our findings suggest that TPHP-induced pericardial edema within zebrafish embryos is dependent on the ionic strength of exposure media, underscoring the importance of further standardization of exposure media and embryo rearing protocols in zebrafish-based chemical toxicity screening assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna Wiegand
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
| | - Sarah Avila-Barnard
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
| | - Charvita Nemarugommula
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
| | - David Lyons
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
| | - Sharon Zhang
- Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
| | - Heather M Stapleton
- Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
| | - David C Volz
- Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States.
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6
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Wlodkowic D, Jansen M. High-throughput screening paradigms in ecotoxicity testing: Emerging prospects and ongoing challenges. CHEMOSPHERE 2022; 307:135929. [PMID: 35944679 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2022] [Revised: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The rapidly increasing number of new production chemicals coupled with stringent implementation of global chemical management programs necessities a paradigm shift towards boarder uses of low-cost and high-throughput ecotoxicity testing strategies as well as deeper understanding of cellular and sub-cellular mechanisms of ecotoxicity that can be used in effective risk assessment. The latter will require automated acquisition of biological data, new capabilities for big data analysis as well as computational simulations capable of translating new data into in vivo relevance. However, very few efforts have been so far devoted into the development of automated bioanalytical systems in ecotoxicology. This is in stark contrast to standardized and high-throughput chemical screening and prioritization routines found in modern drug discovery pipelines. As a result, the high-throughput and high-content data acquisition in ecotoxicology is still in its infancy with limited examples focused on cell-free and cell-based assays. In this work we outline recent developments and emerging prospects of high-throughput bioanalytical approaches in ecotoxicology that reach beyond in vitro biotests. We discuss future importance of automated quantitative data acquisition for cell-free, cell-based as well as developments in phytotoxicity and in vivo biotests utilizing small aquatic model organisms. We also discuss recent innovations such as organs-on-a-chip technologies and existing challenges for emerging high-throughput ecotoxicity testing strategies. Lastly, we provide seminal examples of the small number of successful high-throughput implementations that have been employed in prioritization of chemicals and accelerated environmental risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald Wlodkowic
- The Neurotox Lab, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia.
| | - Marcus Jansen
- LemnaTec GmbH, Nerscheider Weg 170, 52076, Aachen, Germany
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Ibbini Z, Spicer JI, Truebano M, Bishop J, Tills O. HeartCV: a tool for transferrable, automated measurement of heart rate and heart rate variability in transparent animals. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:276574. [PMID: 36073614 PMCID: PMC9659326 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.244729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Heart function is a key component of whole-organismal physiology. Bioimaging is commonly, but not exclusively, used for quantifying heart function in transparent individuals, including early developmental stages of aquatic animals, many of which are transparent. However, a central limitation of many imaging-related methods is the lack of transferability between species, life-history stages and experimental approaches. Furthermore, locating the heart in mobile individuals remains challenging. Here, we present HeartCV: an open-source Python package for automated measurement of heart rate and heart rate variability that integrates automated localization and is transferrable across a wide range of species. We demonstrate the efficacy of HeartCV by comparing its outputs with measurements made manually for a number of very different species with contrasting heart morphologies. Lastly, we demonstrate the applicability of the software to different experimental approaches and to different dataset types, such as those corresponding to longitudinal studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziad Ibbini
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
- Author for correspondence ()
| | - John I. Spicer
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Manuela Truebano
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
| | - John Bishop
- Marine Biological Association of the UK, Citadel Hill Laboratory, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK
| | - Oliver Tills
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
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8
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Haigis AC, Ottermanns R, Schiwy A, Hollert H, Legradi J. Getting more out of the zebrafish light dark transition test. CHEMOSPHERE 2022; 295:133863. [PMID: 35124091 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
In (eco-)toxicological studies the light/dark transition (LDT) test is one of the most frequently used behaviour assays with zebrafish eleutheroembryos. However, study results vary regarding data presentation and analysis and mostly focus on a limited amount of the recorded data. In this study, we investigated whether monitoring two behavioural outcomes (time and distance moved) together with analysing multiple parameters can improve test sensitivity and data interpretation. As a proof of principle 5-day old zebrafish (Danio rerio) eleutheroembryos exposed to either endocrine disruptors (EDs) or acetylcholine esterase (AChE) inhibitors were investigated. We analysed conventional parameters such as mean and sum and implemented additional endpoints such as minimum or maximum distance moved and new parameters assessing the bursting response of eleutheroembryos. Furthermore, changes in eleutheroembryonic behaviour during the moment of the light to dark transition were added. To improve data presentation control-normalised results were displayed in radar charts, enabling the simultaneous presentation of different parameters in relation to each other. This enabled us to identify parameters most relevant to a certain behavioural response. A cut off threshold using control data was applied to identify parameters that were altered in a biological relevant manner. Our approach was able to detect effects on different parameters that remained undetected when analysis was done using conventional bar graphs on - in most cases analysed - averaged, mean distance moved values. By combining the radar charts with additional parameters and by using control-based thresholds, we were able to increase the test sensitivity and promote a deeper understanding of the behaviour response of zebrafish eleutheroembryos in the LDT test and thereby increased its usability for behavioural toxicity studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann-Cathrin Haigis
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, ABBt-Aachen Biology and Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; Department Evolutionary Ecology and Environmental Toxicology, Faculty Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Richard Ottermanns
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, ABBt-Aachen Biology and Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
| | - Andreas Schiwy
- Department Evolutionary Ecology and Environmental Toxicology, Faculty Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Henner Hollert
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, ABBt-Aachen Biology and Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; Department Evolutionary Ecology and Environmental Toxicology, Faculty Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Jessica Legradi
- Environment & Health, VU Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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Ren B, Yu Y, Poopal RK, Qiao L, Ren B, Ren Z. IR-Based Novel Device for Real-Time Online Acquisition of Fish Heart ECG Signals. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:4262-4271. [PMID: 35258949 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c07732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
We developed an infrared (IR)-based real-time online monitoring device (US Patent No: US 10,571,448 B2) to quantify heart electrocardiogram (ECG) signals to assess the water quality based on physiological changes in fish. The device is compact, allowing us to monitor cardiac function for an extended period (from 7 to 30 days depending on the rechargeable battery capacity) without function injury and disturbance of swimming activity. The electrode samples and the biopotential amplifier and microcontroller process the cardiac-electrical signals. An infrared transceiver transmits denoised electrocardiac signals to complete the signal transmission. The infrared receiver array and biomedical acquisition signal processing system send signals to the computer. The software in the computer processes the data in real time. We quantified ECG indexes (P-wave, Q-wave, R-wave, S-wave, T-wave, PR-interval, QRS-complex, and QT-interval) of carp precisely and incessantly under the different experimental setup (CuSO4 and deltamethrin). The ECG cue responses were chemical-specific based on CuSO4 and deltamethrin exposures. This study provides an additional technology for noninvasive water quality surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baixiang Ren
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Shandong Normal University, 250358 Jinan, China
| | - Yaxin Yu
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Shandong Normal University, 250358 Jinan, China
| | - Rama-Krishnan Poopal
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Shandong Normal University, 250358 Jinan, China
| | - Linlin Qiao
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Shandong Normal University, 250358 Jinan, China
| | - Baichuan Ren
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Shandong Normal University, 250358 Jinan, China
| | - Zongming Ren
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Shandong Normal University, 250358 Jinan, China
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10
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Grouping of chemicals into mode of action classes by automated effect pattern analysis using the zebrafish embryo toxicity test. Arch Toxicol 2022; 96:1353-1369. [PMID: 35254489 PMCID: PMC9013687 DOI: 10.1007/s00204-022-03253-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
A central element of high throughput screens for chemical effect assessment using zebrafish is the assessment and quantification of phenotypic changes. By application of an automated and more unbiased analysis of these changes using image analysis, patterns of phenotypes may be associated with the mode of action (MoA) of the exposure chemical. The aim of our study was to explore to what extent compounds can be grouped according to their anticipated toxicological or pharmacological mode of action using an automated quantitative multi-endpoint zebrafish test. Chemical-response signatures for 30 endpoints, covering phenotypic and functional features, were generated for 25 chemicals assigned to 8 broad MoA classes. Unsupervised clustering of the profiling data demonstrated that chemicals were partially grouped by their main MoA. Analysis with a supervised clustering technique such as a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) allowed to identify markers with a strong potential to discriminate between MoAs such as mandibular arch malformation observed for compounds interfering with retinoic acid signaling. The capacity for discriminating MoAs was also benchmarked to an available battery of in vitro toxicity data obtained from ToxCast library indicating a partially similar performance. Further, we discussed to which extent the collected dataset indicated indeed differences for compounds with presumably similar MoA or whether other factors such as toxicokinetic differences could have an important impact on the determined response patterns.
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11
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Ling D, Chen H, Chan G, Lee SMY. Quantitative measurements of zebrafish heartrate and heart rate variability: A survey between 1990-2020. Comput Biol Med 2021; 142:105045. [PMID: 34995954 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.105045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Zebrafish is an essential model organism for studying cardiovascular diseases, given its advantages of fast proliferation and high gene homology with humans. Zebrafish embryos/larvae are valuable experimental models used in toxicology studies to analyze drug toxicity, including hepatoxicity, nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity, as well as for drug discovery and drug safety screening in the preclinical stage. Heart rate (HR) serves as a functional endpoint in studies of cardiotoxicity, while heart rate variability (HRV) serves as an indicator of cardiac arrhythmia. Cardiotoxicity is a major cause of early and late termination of drug trials, so a more comprehensive understanding of zebrafish HR and HRV is important. This review summarized HR and HRV in a specific range of applications and fields, focusing on zebrafish heartbeat detection procedures, signal analysis technology and well-established commercial software, such as LabVIEW, Rvlpulse, and ZebraLab. We also compared HR detection algorithms and electrocardiography (ECG)-based methods of heart signal extraction. The relationship between HR and HRV was also systematically analyzed; HR was shown to have an inverse correlation with HRV. Applications to drug testing are also highlighted in this review. Furthermore, HR and HRV were shown to be regulated by the automatic nervous system; their connections with ECG measurements are also summarized herein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongmin Ling
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Science, University of Macau, Macao, China
| | - Huanxian Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Science, University of Macau, Macao, China
| | - Ging Chan
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Science, University of Macau, Macao, China; Department of Public Health and Medicinal Administration, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China
| | - Simon Ming-Yuen Lee
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Science, University of Macau, Macao, China; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China.
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12
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Zabihihesari A, Khalili A, Hilliker AJ, Rezai P. Open access tool and microfluidic devices for phenotypic quantification of heart function of intact fruit fly and zebrafish larvae. Comput Biol Med 2021; 132:104314. [PMID: 33774273 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2020] [Revised: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
In this paper, the heartbeat parameters of small model organisms, i.e. Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) and Danio rerio (zebrafish), were quantified in-vivo in intact larvae using microfluidics and a novel MATLAB-based software. Among different developmental stages of flies and zebrafish, the larval stage is privileged due to biological maturity, optical accessibility, and the myogenic nature of the heart. Conventional methods for parametric quantification of heart activities are complex and mostly done on dissected, irreversibly immobilized, or anesthetized larvae. Microfluidics has helped with reversible immobilization without the need for anesthesia, but heart monitoring is still done manually due to challenges associated with the movement of floating organs and cardiac interruptions. In our MATLAB software applied to videos recorded in microfluidic-based whole-organism assays, we have used image segmentation to automatically detect the heart and extract the heartbeat signal based on pixel intensity variations of the most contractile region of the heart tube. The smoothness priors approach (SPA) was applied to remove the undesired low-frequency noises caused by environmental light changes or heart movement. Heart rate and arrhythmicity were automatically measured from the detrended heartbeat signal while other parameters including end-diastolic and end-systolic diameters, shortening distance, shortening time, fractional shortening, and shortening velocity were quantified for the first time in intact larvae, using M-mode images under bright field microscopy. The software was able to detect more than 94% of the heartbeats and the cardiac arrests in intact Drosophila larvae. Our user-friendly software enables in-vivo quantification of D. melanogaster and D. rerio larval heart functions in microfluidic devices, with the potential to be applied to other biological models and used for automatic screening of drugs and alleles that affect their heart.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Arezoo Khalili
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Pouya Rezai
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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13
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Echeazarra L, Hortigón-Vinagre MP, Casis O, Gallego M. Adult and Developing Zebrafish as Suitable Models for Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pathology in Research and Industry. Front Physiol 2021; 11:607860. [PMID: 33519514 PMCID: PMC7838705 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.607860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The electrophysiological behavior of the zebrafish heart is very similar to that of the human heart. In fact, most of the genes that codify the channels and regulatory proteins required for human cardiac function have their orthologs in the zebrafish. The high fecundity, small size, and easy handling make the zebrafish embryos/larvae an interesting candidate to perform whole animal experiments within a plate, offering a reliable and low-cost alternative to replace rodents and larger mammals for the study of cardiac physiology and pathology. The employment of zebrafish embryos/larvae has widened from basic science to industry, being of particular interest for pharmacology studies, since the zebrafish embryo/larva is able to recapitulate a complete and integrated view of cardiac physiology, missed in cell culture. As in the human heart, IKr is the dominant repolarizing current and it is functional as early as 48 h post fertilization. Finally, genome editing techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 facilitate the humanization of zebrafish embryos/larvae. These techniques allow one to replace zebrafish genes by their human orthologs, making humanized zebrafish embryos/larvae the most promising in vitro model, since it allows the recreation of human-organ-like environment, which is especially necessary in cardiac studies due to the implication of dynamic factors, electrical communication, and the paracrine signals in cardiac function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leyre Echeazarra
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
| | - Maria Pura Hortigón-Vinagre
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Genética>, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
| | - Oscar Casis
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
| | - Mónica Gallego
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
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14
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Miyawaki I. Application of zebrafish to safety evaluation in drug discovery. J Toxicol Pathol 2020; 33:197-210. [PMID: 33239838 PMCID: PMC7677624 DOI: 10.1293/tox.2020-0021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditionally, safety evaluation at the early stage of drug discovery research has been done using in silico, in vitro, and in vivo systems in this order because of limitations on the amount of compounds available and the throughput ability of the assay systems. While these in vitro assays are very effective tools for detecting particular tissue-specific toxicity phenotypes, it is difficult to detect toxicity based on complex mechanisms involving multiple organs and tissues. Therefore, the development of novel high throughput in vivo evaluation systems has been expected for a long time. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a vertebrate with many attractive characteristics for use in drug discovery, such as a small size, transparency, gene and protein similarity with mammals (80% or more), and ease of genetic modification to establish human disease models. Actually, in recent years, the zebrafish has attracted interest as a novel experimental animal. In this article, the author summarized the features of zebrafish that make it a suitable laboratory animal, and introduced and discussed the applications of zebrafish to preclinical toxicity testing, including evaluations of teratogenicity, hepatotoxicity, and nephrotoxicity based on morphological findings, evaluation of cardiotoxicity using functional endpoints, and assessment of seizure and drug abuse liability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Izuru Miyawaki
- Preclinical Research Laboratories, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma
Co., Ltd., 3-1-98 Kasugade-naka, Konohana-ku, Osaka 554-0022, Japan
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15
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Santoso F, Farhan A, Castillo AL, Malhotra N, Saputra F, Kurnia KA, Chen KHC, Huang JC, Chen JR, Hsiao CD. An Overview of Methods for Cardiac Rhythm Detection in Zebrafish. Biomedicines 2020; 8:E329. [PMID: 32899676 PMCID: PMC7554775 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines8090329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Revised: 08/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The heart is the most important muscular organ of the cardiovascular system, which pumps blood and circulates, supplying oxygen and nutrients to peripheral tissues. Zebrafish have been widely explored in cardiotoxicity research. For example, the zebrafish embryo has been used as a human heart model due to its body transparency, surviving several days without circulation, and facilitating mutant identification to recapitulate human diseases. On the other hand, adult zebrafish can exhibit the amazing regenerative heart muscle capacity, while adult mammalian hearts lack this potential. This review paper offers a brief description of the major methodologies used to detect zebrafish cardiac rhythm at both embryonic and adult stages. The dynamic pixel change method was mostly performed for the embryonic stage. Other techniques, such as kymography, laser confocal microscopy, artificial intelligence, and electrocardiography (ECG) have also been applied to study heartbeat in zebrafish embryos. Nevertheless, ECG is widely used for heartbeat detection in adult zebrafish since ECG waveforms' similarity between zebrafish and humans is prominent. High-frequency ultrasound imaging (echocardiography) and modern electronic sensor tag also have been proposed. Despite the fact that each method has its benefits and limitations, it is proved that zebrafish have become a promising animal model for human cardiovascular disease, drug pharmaceutical, and toxicological research. Using those tools, we conclude that zebrafish behaviors as an excellent small animal model to perform real-time monitoring for the developmental heart process with transparent body appearance, to conduct the in vivo cardiovascular performance and gene function assays, as well as to perform high-throughput/high content drug screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fiorency Santoso
- Master Program in Nanotechnology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 320314, Taiwan;
- Department of Bioscience Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 320314, Taiwan; (F.S.); (K.A.K.)
| | - Ali Farhan
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab 38000, Pakistan;
| | - Agnes L. Castillo
- Faculty of Pharmacy, The Graduate School and Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Santo Tomas, Manila 1008, Philippines;
| | - Nemi Malhotra
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 320314, Taiwan;
| | - Ferry Saputra
- Department of Bioscience Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 320314, Taiwan; (F.S.); (K.A.K.)
| | - Kevin Adi Kurnia
- Department of Bioscience Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 320314, Taiwan; (F.S.); (K.A.K.)
| | - Kelvin H.-C. Chen
- Department of Applied Chemistry, National Pingtung University, Pingtung 900391, Taiwan;
| | - Jong-Chin Huang
- Department of Applied Chemistry, National Pingtung University, Pingtung 900391, Taiwan;
| | - Jung-Ren Chen
- Department of Biological Science & Technology College of Medicine, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan
| | - Chung-Der Hsiao
- Master Program in Nanotechnology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 320314, Taiwan;
- Department of Bioscience Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 320314, Taiwan; (F.S.); (K.A.K.)
- Center of Nanotechnology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 320314, Taiwan
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16
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Steenbergen PJ, Heigwer J, Pandey G, Tönshoff B, Gehrig J, Westhoff JH. A Multiparametric Assay Platform for Simultaneous In Vivo Assessment of Pronephric Morphology, Renal Function and Heart Rate in Larval Zebrafish. Cells 2020; 9:E1269. [PMID: 32443839 PMCID: PMC7290829 DOI: 10.3390/cells9051269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Revised: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Automated high-throughput workflows allow for chemical toxicity testing and drug discovery in zebrafish disease models. Due to its conserved structural and functional properties, the zebrafish pronephros offers a unique model to study renal development and disease at larger scale. Ideally, scoring of pronephric phenotypes includes morphological and functional assessments within the same larva. However, to efficiently upscale such assays, refinement of existing methods is required. Here, we describe the development of a multiparametric in vivo screening pipeline for parallel assessment of pronephric morphology, kidney function and heart rate within the same larva on a single imaging platform. To this end, we developed a novel 3D-printed orientation tool enabling multiple consistent orientations of larvae in agarose-filled microplates. Dorsal pronephros imaging was followed by assessing renal clearance and heart rates upon fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-inulin microinjection using automated time-lapse imaging of laterally positioned larvae. The pipeline was benchmarked using a set of drugs known to induce developmental nephrotoxicity in humans and zebrafish. Drug-induced reductions in renal clearance and heart rate alterations were detected even in larvae exhibiting minor pronephric phenotypes. In conclusion, the developed workflow enables rapid and semi-automated in vivo assessment of multiple morphological and functional parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petrus J. Steenbergen
- Department of Pediatrics I, University Children’s Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (P.J.S.); (J.H.); (G.P.); (B.T.)
| | - Jana Heigwer
- Department of Pediatrics I, University Children’s Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (P.J.S.); (J.H.); (G.P.); (B.T.)
| | - Gunjan Pandey
- Department of Pediatrics I, University Children’s Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (P.J.S.); (J.H.); (G.P.); (B.T.)
| | - Burkhard Tönshoff
- Department of Pediatrics I, University Children’s Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (P.J.S.); (J.H.); (G.P.); (B.T.)
| | - Jochen Gehrig
- DITABIS, Digital Biomedical Imaging Systems AG, 75179 Pforzheim, Germany
- ACQUIFER Imaging GmbH, 69123 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jens H. Westhoff
- Department of Pediatrics I, University Children’s Hospital Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; (P.J.S.); (J.H.); (G.P.); (B.T.)
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17
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Automated high-throughput heartbeat quantification in medaka and zebrafish embryos under physiological conditions. Sci Rep 2020; 10:2046. [PMID: 32029752 PMCID: PMC7005164 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58563-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Accepted: 01/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Accurate quantification of heartbeats in fish models is an important readout to study cardiovascular biology, disease states and pharmacology. However, dependence on anaesthesia, laborious sample orientation or requirement for fluorescent reporters have hampered the use of high-throughput heartbeat analysis. To overcome these limitations, we established an efficient screening assay employing automated label-free heart rate determination of randomly oriented, non-anesthetized medaka (Oryzias latipes) and zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos in microtiter plates. Automatically acquired bright-field data feeds into an easy-to-use HeartBeat software with graphical user interface for automated quantification of heart rate and rhythm. Sensitivity of the assay was demonstrated by profiling heart rates during entire embryonic development. Our analysis revealed rapid adaption of heart rates to temperature changes, which has implications for standardization of experimental layout. The assay allows scoring of multiple embryos per well enabling a throughput of >500 embryos per 96-well plate. In a proof of principle screen for compound testing, we captured concentration-dependent effects of nifedipine and terfenadine over time. Our novel assay permits large-scale applications ranging from phenotypic screening, interrogation of gene functions to cardiovascular drug development.
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18
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Wasala NB, Chen SJ, Duan D. Duchenne muscular dystrophy animal models for high-throughput drug discovery and precision medicine. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2020; 15:443-456. [PMID: 32000537 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2020.1718100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Introduction: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked handicapping disease due to the loss of an essential muscle protein dystrophin. Dystrophin-null animals have been extensively used to study disease mechanisms and to develop experimental therapeutics. Despite decades of research, however, treatment options for DMD remain very limited.Areas covered: High-throughput high-content screening and precision medicine offer exciting new opportunities. Here, the authors review animal models that are suitable for these studies.Expert opinion: Nonmammalian models (worm, fruit fly, and zebrafish) are particularly attractive for cost-effective large-scale drug screening. Several promising lead compounds have been discovered using these models. Precision medicine for DMD aims at developing mutation-specific therapies such as exon-skipping and genome editing. To meet these needs, models with patient-like mutations have been established in different species. Models that harbor hotspot mutations are very attractive because the drugs developed in these models can bring mutation-specific therapies to a large population of patients. Humanized hDMD mice carry the entire human dystrophin gene in the mouse genome. Reagents developed in the hDMD mouse-based models are directly translatable to human patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nalinda B Wasala
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, The University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Shi-Jie Chen
- Department of Physics, The University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.,Department of Biochemistry, The University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Dongsheng Duan
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, The University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.,Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, The University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.,Department of Biomedical, Biological & Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, The University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
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19
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Li S, Xia M. Review of high-content screening applications in toxicology. Arch Toxicol 2019; 93:3387-3396. [PMID: 31664499 PMCID: PMC7011178 DOI: 10.1007/s00204-019-02593-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 10/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
High-content screening (HCS) technology combining automated microscopy and quantitative image analysis can address biological questions in academia and the pharmaceutical industry. Various HCS experimental applications have been utilized in the research field of in vitro toxicology. In this review, we describe several HCS application approaches used for studying the mechanism of compound toxicity, highlight some challenges faced in the toxicological community, and discuss the future directions of HCS in regards to new models, new reagents, data management, and informatics. Many specialized areas of toxicology including developmental toxicity, genotoxicity, developmental neurotoxicity/neurotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, and nephrotoxicity will be examined. In addition, several newly developed cellular assay models including induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), three-dimensional (3D) cell models, and tissues-on-a-chip will be discussed. New genome-editing technologies (e.g., CRISPR/Cas9), data analyzing tools for imaging, and coupling with high-content assays will be reviewed. Finally, the applications of machine learning to image processing will be explored. These new HCS approaches offer a huge step forward in dissecting biological processes, developing drugs, and making toxicology studies easier.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuaizhang Li
- Division for Pre-Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Menghang Xia
- Division for Pre-Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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20
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Catron TR, Gaballah S, Tal T. Using Zebrafish to Investigate Interactions Between Xenobiotics and Microbiota. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s40495-019-00203-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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21
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Pott A, Rottbauer W, Just S. Streamlining drug discovery assays for cardiovascular disease using zebrafish. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2019; 15:27-37. [PMID: 31570020 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2020.1671351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Introduction: In the last decade, our armamentarium of cardiovascular drug therapy has expanded significantly. Using innovative functional genomics strategies such as genome editing by CRISPR/Cas9 as well as high-throughput assays to identify bioactive small chemical compounds has significantly facilitated elaboration of the underlying pathomechanism in various cardiovascular diseases. However, despite scientific progress approvals for cardiovascular drugs has stagnated significantly compared to other fields of drug discovery and therapy during the past years.Areas covered: In this review, the authors discuss the aspects and pitfalls during the early phase of cardiovascular drug discovery and describe the advantages of zebrafish as an in vivo organism to model human cardiovascular diseases (CVD) as well as an in vivo platform for high-throughput chemical compound screening. They also highlight the emerging, promising techniques of automated read-out systems during high-throughput screening (HTS) for the evaluation of important cardiac functional parameters in zebrafish with the potential to streamline CVD drug discovery.Expert opinion: The successful identification of novel drugs to treat CVD is a major challenge in modern biomedical and clinical research. In this context, the definition of the etiologic fundamentals of human cardiovascular diseases is the prerequisite for an efficient and straightforward drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Pott
- Internal Medicine II, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.,Molecular Cardiology, Internal Medicine II, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany
| | | | - Steffen Just
- Molecular Cardiology, Internal Medicine II, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany
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22
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Reddam A, Mitchell CA, Dasgupta S, Kirkwood JS, Vollaro A, Hur M, Volz DC. mRNA-Sequencing Identifies Liver as a Potential Target Organ for Triphenyl Phosphate in Embryonic Zebrafish. Toxicol Sci 2019; 172:51-62. [PMID: 31368501 PMCID: PMC6813745 DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfz169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2019] [Revised: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) is a commonly used organophosphate flame retardant and plasticizer in the United States. Using zebrafish as a model, the overall objective of this study was to identify potential organs that might be targeted by TPHP during embryonic development. Based on mRNA-sequencing, TPHP exposure from 24 to 30 h post fertilization (hpf) and 24 to 48 hpf significantly affected the abundance of 305 and 274 transcripts, respectively, relative to vehicle (0.1% DMSO) controls. In addition to minor effects on cardiotoxicity- and nephrotoxicity-related pathways, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) of significantly affected transcripts within 30- and 48-hpf embryos revealed that hepatotoxicity-related pathways were strongly affected following exposure to TPHP alone. Moreover, while pre-treatment with fenretinide (a retinoic acid receptor agonist) mitigated TPHP-induced pericardial edema and liver enlargement at 72 hpf and 128 hpf, respectively, IPA revealed that fenretinide was unable to block TPHP-induced effects on cardiotoxicity-, nephrotoxicity-, and hepatotoxicity-related pathways at 48 hpf, suggesting that TPHP-induced effects on the transcriptome were not associated with toxicity later in development. In addition, based on Oil Red O staining, we found that exposure to TPHP nearly abolished neutral lipids from the embryonic head and trunk and, based on metabolomics, significantly decreased the total abundance of metabolites - including betaine, a known osmoprotectant - at 48 and 72 hpf. Overall, our data suggest that, in addition to the heart, TPHP exposure during early development results in adverse effects on the liver, lipid utilization, and osmoregulation within embryonic zebrafish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aalekhya Reddam
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.,Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Constance A Mitchell
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.,Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Subham Dasgupta
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Jay S Kirkwood
- Metabolomics Core Facility, Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Alyssa Vollaro
- Metabolomics Core Facility, Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Manhoi Hur
- Metabolomics Core Facility, Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - David C Volz
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
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23
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Mitchell CA, Dasgupta S, Zhang S, Stapleton HM, Volz DC. Disruption of Nuclear Receptor Signaling Alters Triphenyl Phosphate-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Zebrafish Embryos. Toxicol Sci 2019. [PMID: 29529285 DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfy037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) is an unsubstituted aryl phosphate ester used as a flame retardant and plasticizer within the United States. Using zebrafish as a model, the objectives of this study were to rely on (1) mRNA-sequencing to uncover pathways disrupted following embryonic TPHP exposure and (2) high-content screening to identify nuclear receptor ligands that enhance or mitigate TPHP-induced cardiotoxicity. Based on mRNA-sequencing, TPHP exposure from 24 to 72-h postfertilization (hpf) resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in the number of transcripts significantly affected at 72 hpf, and pathway analysis revealed that 5 out of 9 nuclear receptor pathways were associated with the retinoid X receptor (RXR). Based on a screen of 74 unique nuclear receptor ligands as well as follow-up experiments, 2 compounds-ciglitazone (a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, or PPARγ, agonist) and fenretinide (a pan-retinoic acid receptor, or RAR, agonist)-reliably mitigated TPHP-induced cardiotoxicity in the absence of effects on TPHP uptake or metabolism. As these data suggested that TPHP may be activating RXR (a heterodimer for both RARs and PPARγ), we coexposed embryos to HX 531-a pan-RXR antagonist-from 24 to 72 hpf and, contrary to our hypothesis, found that coexposure to HX 531 significantly enhanced TPHP-induced cardiotoxicity. Using a luciferase reporter assay, we also found that TPHP did not activate nor inhibit chimeric human RXRα, RXRβ, or RXRγ, suggesting that TPHP does not directly bind nor interact with RXRs. Overall, our data suggest that TPHP may interfere with RXR-dependent pathways involved in cardiac development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Constance A Mitchell
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program.,Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California
| | - Subham Dasgupta
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California
| | - Sharon Zhang
- Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Heather M Stapleton
- Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - David C Volz
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California
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Teixidó E, Kießling TR, Krupp E, Quevedo C, Muriana A, Scholz S. Automated Morphological Feature Assessment for Zebrafish Embryo Developmental Toxicity Screens. Toxicol Sci 2019; 167:438-449. [PMID: 30295906 PMCID: PMC6358258 DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfy250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Detection of developmental phenotypes in zebrafish embryos typically involves a visual assessment and scoring of morphological features by an individual researcher. Subjective scoring could impact results and be of particular concern when phenotypic effect patterns are also used as a diagnostic tool to classify compounds. Here we introduce a quantitative morphometric approach based on image analysis of zebrafish embryos. A software called FishInspector was developed to detect morphological features from images collected using an automated system to position zebrafish embryos. The analysis was verified and compared with visual assessments of 3 participating laboratories using 3 known developmental toxicants (methotrexate, dexamethasone, and topiramate) and 2 negative compounds (loratadine and glibenclamide). The quantitative approach exhibited higher sensitivity and made it possible to compare patterns of effects with the potential to establish a grouping and classification of developmental toxicants. Our approach improves the robustness of phenotype scoring and reliability of assay performance and, hence, is anticipated to improve the predictivity of developmental toxicity screening using the zebrafish embryo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabet Teixidó
- Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | - Stefan Scholz
- Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Leipzig 04318, Germany
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Dasgupta S, Cheng V, Vliet SMF, Mitchell CA, Volz DC. Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) Phosphate Exposure During the Early-Blastula Stage Alters the Normal Trajectory of Zebrafish Embryogenesis. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2018; 52:10820-10828. [PMID: 30157643 PMCID: PMC6169527 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b03730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) is an organophosphate flame retardant used around the world. Within zebrafish, we previously showed that initiation of TDCIPP exposure during cleavage (0.75 h post-fertilization, hpf) results in epiboly disruption at 6 hpf, leading to dorsalized embryos by 24 hpf, a phenotype that mimics the effects of dorsomorphin (DMP), a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) antagonist that dorsalizes embryos in the absence of epiboly defects. The objective of this study was to (1) investigate the role of BMP signaling in TDCIPP-induced toxicity during early embryogenesis, (2) identify other pathways and processes targeted by TDCIPP, and (3) characterize the downstream impacts of early developmental defects. Using zebrafish as a model, we first identified a sensitive window for TDCIPP-induced effects following exposure initiation at 0.75 hpf. We then investigated the effects of TDCIPP on the transcriptome during the first 24 h of development using mRNA sequencing and amplicon sequencing. Finally, we relied on whole-mount immunohistochemistry, dye-based labeling, and morphological assessments to study abnormalities later in embryonic development. Overall, our data suggest that the initiation of TDCIPP exposure during early blastula alters the normal trajectory of early embryogenesis by inducing gastrulation defects and aberrant germ-layer formation, leading to abnormal tissue and organ development within the embryo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Subham Dasgupta
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
| | - Vanessa Cheng
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
| | - Sara M. F. Vliet
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
| | - Constance A. Mitchell
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
- Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
| | - David C. Volz
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
- Phone: (951) 827-4450; Fax: (951) 827 3993;
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Kang CP, Tu HC, Fu TF, Wu JM, Chu PH, Chang DTH. An automatic method to calculate heart rate from zebrafish larval cardiac videos. BMC Bioinformatics 2018; 19:169. [PMID: 29743010 PMCID: PMC5944013 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-018-2166-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Zebrafish is a widely used model organism for studying heart development and cardiac-related pathogenesis. With the ability of surviving without a functional circulation at larval stages, strong genetic similarity between zebrafish and mammals, prolific reproduction and optically transparent embryos, zebrafish is powerful in modeling mammalian cardiac physiology and pathology as well as in large-scale high throughput screening. However, an economical and convenient tool for rapid evaluation of fish cardiac function is still in need. There have been several image analysis methods to assess cardiac functions in zebrafish embryos/larvae, but they are still improvable to reduce manual intervention in the entire process. This work developed a fully automatic method to calculate heart rate, an important parameter to analyze cardiac function, from videos. It contains several filters to identify the heart region, to reduce video noise and to calculate heart rates. Results The proposed method was evaluated with 32 zebrafish larval cardiac videos that were recording at three-day post-fertilization. The heart rate measured by the proposed method was comparable to that determined by manual counting. The experimental results show that the proposed method does not lose accuracy while largely reducing the labor cost and uncertainty of manual counting. Conclusions With the proposed method, researchers do not have to manually select a region of interest before analyzing videos. Moreover, filters designed to reduce video noise can alleviate background fluctuations during the video recording stage (e.g. shifting), which makes recorders generate usable videos easily and therefore reduce manual efforts while recording. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12859-018-2166-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia-Pin Kang
- Department of Electronic Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Hung-Chi Tu
- The Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Tzu-Fun Fu
- The Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Jhe-Ming Wu
- Department of Electronic Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Po-Hsun Chu
- Department of Electronic Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Darby Tien-Hao Chang
- Department of Electronic Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan.
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Sneddon LU, Halsey LG, Bury NR. Considering aspects of the 3Rs principles within experimental animal biology. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 220:3007-3016. [PMID: 28855318 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.147058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 127] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The 3Rs - Replacement, Reduction and Refinement - are embedded into the legislation and guidelines governing the ethics of animal use in experiments. Here, we consider the advantages of adopting key aspects of the 3Rs into experimental biology, represented mainly by the fields of animal behaviour, neurobiology, physiology, toxicology and biomechanics. Replacing protected animals with less sentient forms or species, cells, tissues or computer modelling approaches has been broadly successful. However, many studies investigate specific models that exhibit a particular adaptation, or a species that is a target for conservation, such that their replacement is inappropriate. Regardless of the species used, refining procedures to ensure the health and well-being of animals prior to and during experiments is crucial for the integrity of the results and legitimacy of the science. Although the concepts of health and welfare are developed for model organisms, relatively little is known regarding non-traditional species that may be more ecologically relevant. Studies should reduce the number of experimental animals by employing the minimum suitable sample size. This is often calculated using power analyses, which is associated with making statistical inferences based on the P-value, yet P-values often leave scientists on shaky ground. We endorse focusing on effect sizes accompanied by confidence intervals as a more appropriate means of interpreting data; in turn, sample size could be calculated based on effect size precision. Ultimately, the appropriate employment of the 3Rs principles in experimental biology empowers scientists in justifying their research, and results in higher-quality science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lynne U Sneddon
- Institute of Integrative Biology, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, University of Liverpool, The BioScience Building, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Lewis G Halsey
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Roehampton, London SW15 4JD, UK
| | - Nic R Bury
- University of Suffolk, Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, James Hehir Building, Neptune Quay, Ipswich IP4 1QJ, Suffolk, UK
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Haggard DE, Noyes PD, Waters KM, Tanguay RL. Transcriptomic and phenotypic profiling in developing zebrafish exposed to thyroid hormone receptor agonists. Reprod Toxicol 2018; 77:80-93. [PMID: 29458080 PMCID: PMC5878140 DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2018.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2017] [Revised: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 02/13/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
There continues to be a need to develop in vivo high-throughput screening (HTS) and computational methods to screen chemicals for interaction with the estrogen, androgen, and thyroid pathways and as complements to in vitro HTS assays. This study explored the utility of an embryonic zebrafish HTS approach to identify and classify endocrine bioactivity using phenotypically-anchored transcriptome profiling. Transcriptome analysis was conducted on zebrafish embryos exposed to 25 estrogen-, androgen-, or thyroid-active chemicals at concentrations that elicited adverse malformations or mortality at 120 h post-fertilization in 80% of animals exposed. Analysis of the top 1000 significant differentially expressed transcripts and developmental toxicity profiles across all treatments identified a unique transcriptional and phenotypic signature for thyroid hormone receptor agonists. This unique signature has the potential to be used as a tiered in vivo HTS and may aid in identifying chemicals that interact with the thyroid hormone receptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derik E Haggard
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
| | - Pamela D Noyes
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States; Current: National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Katrina M Waters
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States
| | - Robert L Tanguay
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States.
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30
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Schweizer M, Dieterich A, Triebskorn R, Köhler HR. Drifting Away of a FET Endpoint: The Heart Rate in Danio rerio Embryos is Extremely Sensitive to Variation in Ambient Temperature. BULLETIN OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY 2017; 99:684-689. [PMID: 29058013 DOI: 10.1007/s00128-017-2196-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Accepted: 10/14/2017] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Beyond the mere detection of presence or absence of heart beat in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos in a fish embryo test conducted referring to the OECD TG 236 at 48 hpf (hours post fertilization) onwards, embryo heart rate may serve as an additional and very sensitive endpoint in ecotoxicological studies. But by including heart rate as a sublethal endpoint, care has to be taken of separating effects exerted by a tested compound from those exerted by temperature. Therefore, profound knowledge on the natural variation of zebrafish heart rates at defined temperatures as a basis for the assessment of gained results is mandatorily needed. As such continuous information in D. rerio is lacking from the literature, we designed a study covering a span of 12°C (from 18 to 30°C in steps of 2°C) to quantify the relationship between heart rate and temperature in D. rerio embryos 48 hpf. Conducting a multiple regression analysis, we found a considerably strong relationship between treatment temperature and the log10 of the heart rate, ranging from 82.8 beats per minute at 18°C to 218.0 beats per minute at 30°C. Our results therefore may serve as a reference for heart rates measured under normal conditions to be able to detect potential effects of contaminants in other studies when working under certain temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mona Schweizer
- Animal Physiological Ecology, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, Tuebingen University, Auf der Morgenstelle 5, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany.
| | - Andreas Dieterich
- Animal Physiological Ecology, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, Tuebingen University, Auf der Morgenstelle 5, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Rita Triebskorn
- Animal Physiological Ecology, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, Tuebingen University, Auf der Morgenstelle 5, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
- Steinbeis-Transfer Center for Ecotoxicology and Ecophysiology, Blumenstrasse 13, 72108, Rottenburg, Germany
| | - Heinz-R Köhler
- Animal Physiological Ecology, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, Tuebingen University, Auf der Morgenstelle 5, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
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Small molecule screen in embryonic zebrafish using modular variations to target segmentation. Nat Commun 2017; 8:1901. [PMID: 29196645 PMCID: PMC5711842 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01469-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2016] [Accepted: 09/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Small molecule in vivo phenotypic screening is used to identify drugs or biological activities by directly assessing effects in intact organisms. However, current screening designs may not exploit the full potential of chemical libraries due to false negatives. Here, we demonstrate a modular small molecule screen in embryonic zebrafish that varies concentration, genotype and timing to target segmentation disorders, birth defects that affect the spinal column. By testing each small molecule in multiple interrelated ways, this screen recovers compounds that a standard screening design would have missed, increasing the hit frequency from the chemical library three-fold. We identify molecular pathways and segmentation phenotypes, which we share in an open-access annotated database. These hits provide insight into human vertebral segmentation disorders and myopathies. This modular screening strategy is applicable to other developmental questions and disease models, highlighting the power of relatively small chemical libraries to accelerate gene discovery and disease study.
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Chen LQ, Ding CZ, Ling J. Intensive epidermal adsorption and specific venous deposition of carboxyl quantum dots in zebrafish early-life stages. CHEMOSPHERE 2017; 184:44-52. [PMID: 28578195 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.05.173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2017] [Revised: 05/26/2017] [Accepted: 05/30/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
To properly assess the environmental risk of quantum dots (QDs), it is necessary to determine their fate in living organisms, including adsorption, distribution and bioaccumulation under representative environmental or physiological conditions. We comprehensively investigated the fate of QDs with carboxyl terminal functional groups (carboxyl-QDs) in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo and larvae subjected to either waterborne exposure or cardiovascular system microinjection. On waterborne exposure, carboxyl-QDs exhibited an intensive adsorption and accumulation in the chorion of embryos, and their predominate target organs were the gill and intestinal tract in larvae. On microinjection, carboxyl-QDs were rapidly delivered into the cardiovascular system and specifically deposited in veins and the capillary network system of zebrafish larvae, but not in the arterial system. Taken together, we found that the exact tissue condition including epidermal structures, mucus secretion and vascular microstructures strongly affected the adsorption, uptake and distribution of carboxyl-QDs in zebrafish. This work highlights the intensive tissue epidermal adsorption and accumulation of carboxyl-QDs and their specific vein and capillary deposition in the cardiovascular system in zebrafish early-life stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Qiang Chen
- Institute of International Rivers and Eco-security, Yunnan Key Laboratory of International Rivers and Trans-boundary Eco-security, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China.
| | - Cheng Zhi Ding
- Institute of International Rivers and Eco-security, Yunnan Key Laboratory of International Rivers and Trans-boundary Eco-security, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Jian Ling
- School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, People's Republic of China
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Mehinto AC, VanDervort DR, Lao W, He G, Denison MS, Vliet SM, Volz DC, Mazor RD, Maruya KA. High throughput in vitro and in vivo screening of inland waters of Southern California. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. PROCESSES & IMPACTS 2017; 19:1142-1149. [PMID: 28612856 DOI: 10.1039/c7em00170c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The impact of unmonitored contaminants, also known as contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), on freshwater streams remains largely uncharacterized. Water samples from 31 streams representing urban, agricultural and undeveloped (i.e., open space) land use in Southern California (USA) were analyzed for in vitro and in vivo bioactivity. The extent and magnitude of bioactivity screened using endocrine-responsive cell bioassays and a fish embryo screening assay were low. In contrast, a wider gradient of responses for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) assay was observed, which was negatively correlated with a measure of benthic community structure. Both aromatic and non-aromatic CECs were tentatively identified in these samples, but polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), known AhR agonists in urban environments, were not present at detectable levels. These results suggest that a combination of in vitro and in vivo show potential as screening techniques for biological condition in situ, but that more advanced, comprehensive analytical methods are needed to identify bioactive contaminants.
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Affiliation(s)
- A C Mehinto
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Costa Mesa, CA, USA
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Barrick A, Châtel A, Bruneau M, Mouneyrac C. The role of high-throughput screening in ecotoxicology and engineered nanomaterials. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2017; 36:1704-1714. [PMID: 28440957 DOI: 10.1002/etc.3811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2016] [Revised: 01/20/2017] [Accepted: 03/27/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The field of environmental toxicology developed as a result of growing concerns about anthropogenic influences on the environment and how to ameliorate ecological impact. Many governmental bodies are beginning to emphasize prevention rather than mitigation when addressing novel products, leading to more of a focus on identifying potential toxicity prior to release. With the exponential advances in their development and sale, novel metamaterials and biotechnology are set to dramatically outpace the capabilities of current testing strategies. To address the need for a fast, cost-effective means of testing chemicals, high-throughput screening (HTS) is currently being used in toxicology and being adapted to ecotoxicology in projects such as ToxCast and Tox21. Despite the growth of research using HTS platforms, its role in ecotoxicology is still uncertain, particularly in how it should be applied in regulation. The aim of the present review is to discuss common test strategies used in designing HTS platforms, the current potential applications for ecotoxicological research, its role in regulatory policies, and its ability to address growing concerns such as engineered nanomaterials. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1704-1714. © 2017 SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Barrick
- Mer Molécules Sante, Université Catholique de l'Ouest, Angers Cedex, France
| | - Amélie Châtel
- Mer Molécules Sante, Université Catholique de l'Ouest, Angers Cedex, France
| | - Mélanie Bruneau
- Mer Molécules Sante, Université Catholique de l'Ouest, Angers Cedex, France
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35
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Raftery TD, Jayasundara N, Di Giulio RT. A bioenergetics assay for studying the effects of environmental stressors on mitochondrial function in vivo in zebrafish larvae. Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol 2017; 192:23-32. [PMID: 27939721 PMCID: PMC5218841 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpc.2016.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2016] [Revised: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 12/02/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Mitochondria, an integral component of cellular energy metabolism and other key functions, are extremely vulnerable to damage by environmental stressors. Although methods to measure mitochondrial function in vitro exist, sensitive, medium- to high-throughput assays that assess respiration within physiologically-relevant whole organisms are needed to identify drugs and/or chemicals that disrupt mitochondrial function, particularly at sensitive early developmental stages. Consequently, we have developed and optimized an assay to measure mitochondrial bioenergetics in zebrafish larvae using the XFe24 Extracellular Flux Analyzer. To prevent larval movement from confounding oxygen consumption measurements, we relied on MS-222-based anesthetization. We obtained stable measurement values in the absence of effects on average oxygen consumption rate and subsequently optimized the use of pharmacological agents for metabolic partitioning. To confirm assay reproducibility we demonstrated that triclosan, a positive control, significantly decreased spare respiratory capacity. We then exposed zebrafish from 5 hours post-fertilization (hpf) to 6days post-fertilization (dpf) to three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), phenanthrene (Phe), and fluoranthene (FL) - and measured various fundamental parameters of mitochondrial respiratory chain function, including maximal respiration, spare respiratory capacity, mitochondrial and non-mitochondrial respiration. Exposure to all three PAHs decreased spare respiratory capacity and maximal respiration. Additionally, Phe exposure increased non-mitochondrial respiration and FL exposure decreased mitochondrial respiration and increased non-mitochondrial respiration. Overall, this whole organism-based assay provides a platform for examining mitochondrial dysfunction in vivo at critical developmental stages. It has important implications in biomedical sciences, toxicology and ecophysiology, particularly to examine the effects of environmental chemicals and/or drugs on mitochondrial bioenergetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara D Raftery
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States.
| | - Nishad Jayasundara
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
| | - Richard T Di Giulio
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
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Abstract
Skeletal muscle performs an essential function in human physiology with defects in genes encoding a variety of cellular components resulting in various types of inherited muscle disorders. Muscular dystrophies (MDs) are a severe and heterogeneous type of human muscle disease, manifested by progressive muscle wasting and degeneration. The disease pathogenesis and therapeutic options for MDs have been investigated for decades using rodent models, and considerable knowledge has been accumulated on the cause and pathogenetic mechanisms of this group of human disorders. However, due to some differences between disease severity and progression, what is learned in mammalian models does not always transfer to humans, prompting the desire for additional and alternative models. More recently, zebrafish have emerged as a novel and robust animal model for the study of human muscle disease. Zebrafish MD models possess a number of distinct advantages for modeling human muscle disorders, including the availability and ease of generating mutations in homologous disease-causing genes, the ability to image living muscle tissue in an intact animal, and the suitability of zebrafish larvae for large-scale chemical screens. In this chapter, we review the current understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in MDs, the process of myogenesis in zebrafish, and the structural and functional characteristics of zebrafish larval muscles. We further discuss the insights gained from the key zebrafish MD models that have been so far generated, and we summarize the attempts that have been made to screen for small molecules inhibitors of the dystrophic phenotypes using these models. Overall, these studies demonstrate that zebrafish is a useful in vivo system for modeling aspects of human skeletal muscle disorders. Studies using these models have contributed both to the understanding of the pathogenesis of muscle wasting disorders and demonstrated their utility as highly relevant models to implement therapeutic screening regimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Li
- Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - K J Hromowyk
- The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - S L Amacher
- The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - P D Currie
- Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
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Persson M, Hornberg JJ. Advances in Predictive Toxicology for Discovery Safety through High Content Screening. Chem Res Toxicol 2016; 29:1998-2007. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.6b00248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mikael Persson
- Drug Safety and Metabolism, Innovative Medicines and Early Development, AstraZeneca R&D Gothenburg, Pepparedsleden 1, 431 83 Mölndal, Sweden
| | - Jorrit J. Hornberg
- Drug Safety and Metabolism, Innovative Medicines and Early Development, AstraZeneca R&D Gothenburg, Pepparedsleden 1, 431 83 Mölndal, Sweden
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Nema S, Bhargava Y. Designing and Testing of Self-Cleaning Recirculating Zebrafish Tanks. Zebrafish 2016; 13:369-73. [DOI: 10.1089/zeb.2016.1250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Shubham Nema
- Molecular Engineering and Imaging Lab, School of Biological Sciences, Dr. Harisingh Gour Central University, Sagar, India
| | - Yogesh Bhargava
- Molecular Engineering and Imaging Lab, School of Biological Sciences, Dr. Harisingh Gour Central University, Sagar, India
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Folkesson M, Sadowska N, Vikingsson S, Karlsson M, Carlhäll CJ, Länne T, Wågsäter D, Jensen L. Differences in cardiovascular toxicities associated with cigarette smoking and snuff use revealed using novel zebrafish models. Biol Open 2016; 5:970-8. [PMID: 27334697 PMCID: PMC4958274 DOI: 10.1242/bio.018812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Tobacco use is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease and the only avoidable risk factor associated with development of aortic aneurysm. While smoking is the most common form of tobacco use, snuff and other oral tobacco products are gaining popularity, but research on potentially toxic effects of oral tobacco use has not kept pace with the increase in its use. Here, we demonstrate that cigarette smoke and snuff extracts are highly toxic to developing zebrafish embryos. Exposure to such extracts led to a palette of toxic effects including early embryonic mortality, developmental delay, cerebral hemorrhages, defects in lymphatics development and ventricular function, and aneurysm development. Both cigarette smoke and snuff were more toxic than pure nicotine, indicating that other compounds in these products are also associated with toxicity. While some toxicities were found following exposure to both types of tobacco product, other toxicities, including developmental delay and aneurysm development, were specifically observed in the snuff extract group, whereas cerebral hemorrhages were only found in the group exposed to cigarette smoke extract. These findings deepen our understanding of the pathogenic effects of cigarette smoking and snuff use on the cardiovascular system and illustrate the benefits of using zebrafish to study mechanisms involved in aneurysm development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maggie Folkesson
- Division of Drug Research, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Natalia Sadowska
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Svante Vikingsson
- Division of Drug Research, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Matts Karlsson
- Division of Applied Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Carl-Johan Carlhäll
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Toste Länne
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Dick Wågsäter
- Division of Drug Research, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Lasse Jensen
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden
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Planchart A, Mattingly CJ, Allen D, Ceger P, Casey W, Hinton D, Kanungo J, Kullman SW, Tal T, Bondesson M, Burgess SM, Sullivan C, Kim C, Behl M, Padilla S, Reif DM, Tanguay RL, Hamm J. Advancing toxicology research using in vivo high throughput toxicology with small fish models. ALTEX 2016; 33:435-452. [PMID: 27328013 PMCID: PMC5270630 DOI: 10.14573/altex.1601281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2016] [Accepted: 05/31/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Small freshwater fish models, especially zebrafish, offer advantages over traditional rodent models, including low maintenance and husbandry costs, high fecundity, genetic diversity, physiology similar to that of traditional biomedical models, and reduced animal welfare concerns. The Collaborative Workshop on Aquatic Models and 21st Century Toxicology was held at North Carolina State University on May 5-6, 2014, in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. Participants discussed the ways in which small fish are being used as models to screen toxicants and understand mechanisms of toxicity. Workshop participants agreed that the lack of standardized protocols is an impediment to broader acceptance of these models, whereas development of standardized protocols, validation, and subsequent regulatory acceptance would facilitate greater usage. Given the advantages and increasing application of small fish models, there was widespread interest in follow-up workshops to review and discuss developments in their use. In this article, we summarize the recommendations formulated by workshop participants to enhance the utility of small fish species in toxicology studies, as well as many of the advances in the field of toxicology that resulted from using small fish species, including advances in developmental toxicology, cardiovascular toxicology, neurotoxicology, and immunotoxicology. We alsoreview many emerging issues that will benefit from using small fish species, especially zebrafish, and new technologies that will enable using these organisms to yield results unprecedented in their information content to better understand how toxicants affect development and health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Planchart
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Center for Human Health and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Carolyn J. Mattingly
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Center for Human Health and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - David Allen
- Integrated Laboratory Systems, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Patricia Ceger
- Integrated Laboratory Systems, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Warren Casey
- National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - David Hinton
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Jyotshna Kanungo
- National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR, USA
| | - Seth W. Kullman
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Center for Human Health and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Tamara Tal
- Integrated Systems Toxicology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Maria Bondesson
- Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | - Con Sullivan
- Department of Molecular & Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA
| | - Carol Kim
- Department of Molecular & Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA
| | - Mamta Behl
- Division of National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Stephanie Padilla
- Integrated Systems Toxicology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - David M. Reif
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Center for Human Health and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Robert L. Tanguay
- Department of Environmental & Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
| | - Jon Hamm
- Integrated Laboratory Systems, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
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Brown DR, Samsa LA, Qian L, Liu J. Advances in the Study of Heart Development and Disease Using Zebrafish. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis 2016; 3. [PMID: 27335817 PMCID: PMC4913704 DOI: 10.3390/jcdd3020013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal models of cardiovascular disease are key players in the translational medicine pipeline used to define the conserved genetic and molecular basis of disease. Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are the most common type of human birth defect and feature structural abnormalities that arise during cardiac development and maturation. The zebrafish, Danio rerio, is a valuable vertebrate model organism, offering advantages over traditional mammalian models. These advantages include the rapid, stereotyped and external development of transparent embryos produced in large numbers from inexpensively housed adults, vast capacity for genetic manipulation, and amenability to high-throughput screening. With the help of modern genetics and a sequenced genome, zebrafish have led to insights in cardiovascular diseases ranging from CHDs to arrhythmia and cardiomyopathy. Here, we discuss the utility of zebrafish as a model system and summarize zebrafish cardiac morphogenesis with emphasis on parallels to human heart diseases. Additionally, we discuss the specific tools and experimental platforms utilized in the zebrafish model including forward screens, functional characterization of candidate genes, and high throughput applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel R. Brown
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; (D.R.B.); (L.Q.)
- McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Leigh Ann Samsa
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA;
- McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Li Qian
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; (D.R.B.); (L.Q.)
- McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jiandong Liu
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; (D.R.B.); (L.Q.)
- McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-919-962-0326; Fax: +1-919- 843-2063
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Fraietta I, Gasparri F. The development of high-content screening (HCS) technology and its importance to drug discovery. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2016; 11:501-14. [PMID: 26971542 DOI: 10.1517/17460441.2016.1165203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION High-content screening (HCS) was introduced about twenty years ago as a promising analytical approach to facilitate some critical aspects of drug discovery. Its application has spread progressively within the pharmaceutical industry and academia to the point that it today represents a fundamental tool in supporting drug discovery and development. AREAS COVERED Here, the authors review some of significant progress in the HCS field in terms of biological models and assay readouts. They highlight the importance of high-content screening in drug discovery, as testified by its numerous applications in a variety of therapeutic areas: oncology, infective diseases, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. They also dissect the role of HCS technology in different phases of the drug discovery pipeline: target identification, primary compound screening, secondary assays, mechanism of action studies and in vitro toxicology. EXPERT OPINION Recent advances in cellular assay technologies, such as the introduction of three-dimensional (3D) cultures, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and genome editing technologies (e.g., CRISPR/Cas9), have tremendously expanded the potential of high-content assays to contribute to the drug discovery process. Increasingly predictive cellular models and readouts, together with the development of more sophisticated and affordable HCS readers, will further consolidate the role of HCS technology in drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Fraietta
- a Department of Biology , Nerviano Medical Sciences S.r.l ., Nerviano , Milano , Italy
| | - Fabio Gasparri
- a Department of Biology , Nerviano Medical Sciences S.r.l ., Nerviano , Milano , Italy
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Truong L, Simonich MT, Tanguay RL. Better, Faster, Cheaper: Getting the Most Out of High-Throughput Screening with Zebrafish. Methods Mol Biol 2016; 1473:89-98. [PMID: 27518627 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6346-1_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The field of toxicology is undergoing a vast change with high-throughput (HT) approaches that rapidly query huge swaths of chemico-structural space for bioactivity and hazard potential. Its practicality is due in large part to switching from high-cost, low-throughput mammalian models to faster and cheaper alternatives. We believe this is an improved approach because the immense breadth of the resulting data sets a foundation for predictive structure-activity-based toxicology. Moreover, rapidly uncovering structure-related bioactivity drives better decisions about where to commit resources to drill down to a mechanism, or pursue commercial leads. While hundreds of different in vitro toxicology assays can collectively serve as an alternative to mammalian animal model testing, far greater efficiency and ultimately more relevant data are obtained from the whole animal. The developmental zebrafish, with its well-documented advantages over many animal models, is now emerging as a true biosensor of chemical activity. Herein, we draw on nearly a decade of experience developing high-throughput toxicology screens in the developmental zebrafish to summarize the best practices in fulfilling the better, faster, cheaper goals. We include optimization and harmonization of dosing volume, exposure paradigms, chemical solubility, chorion status, experimental duration, endpoint definitions, and statistical analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Truong
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, 28645 E Hwy 34, Corvallis, OR, USA
- The Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory and the Environmental Health Sciences Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
| | - Michael T Simonich
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, 28645 E Hwy 34, Corvallis, OR, USA
- The Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory and the Environmental Health Sciences Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
| | - Robert L Tanguay
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, 28645 E Hwy 34, Corvallis, OR, USA.
- The Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory and the Environmental Health Sciences Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
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Wittmann C, Reischl M, Shah AH, Kronfuss E, Mikut R, Liebel U, Grabher C. A Zebrafish Drug-Repurposing Screen Reveals sGC-Dependent and sGC-Independent Pro-Inflammatory Activities of Nitric Oxide. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0137286. [PMID: 26444552 PMCID: PMC4596872 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2015] [Accepted: 08/14/2015] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Tissue injury and infection trigger innate immune responses. However, dysregulation may result in chronic inflammation and is commonly treated with corticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Unfortunately, long-term administration of both therapeutic classes can cause unwanted side effects. To identify alternative immune-modulatory compounds we have previously established a novel screening method using zebrafish larvae. Using this method we here present results of an in vivo high-content drug-repurposing screen, identifying 63 potent anti-inflammatory drugs that are in clinical use for other indications. Our approach reveals a novel pro-inflammatory role of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide affects leukocyte recruitment upon peripheral sensory nervous system or epithelial injury in zebrafish larvae both via soluble guanylate cyclase and in a soluble guanylate cyclase -independent manner through protein S-nitrosylation. Together, we show that our screening method can help to identify novel immune-modulatory activities and provide new mechanistic insights into the regulation of inflammatory processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Wittmann
- Institute of Toxicology and Genetics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Markus Reischl
- Institute for Applied Computer Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Asmi H. Shah
- Institute of Toxicology and Genetics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Eva Kronfuss
- Institute of Toxicology and Genetics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Ralf Mikut
- Institute for Applied Computer Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Urban Liebel
- Institute of Toxicology and Genetics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Clemens Grabher
- Institute of Toxicology and Genetics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
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Keßler M, Rottbauer W, Just S. Recent progress in the use of zebrafish for novel cardiac drug discovery. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2015; 10:1231-41. [PMID: 26294375 DOI: 10.1517/17460441.2015.1078788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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Leet JK, Hipszer RA, Volz DC. Butafenacil: A positive control for identifying anemia- and variegate porphyria-inducing chemicals. Toxicol Rep 2015; 2:976-983. [PMID: 28962437 PMCID: PMC5598413 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2015.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2015] [Revised: 06/03/2015] [Accepted: 07/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Butafenacil-induced anemia occurs in the presence or absence of light. Butafenacil-induced protoporphyrin accumulation only occurs in the presence of light. Embryonic zebrafish are not susceptible to butafenacil exposure following completion of pharyngula. Zebrafish embryos require >24 h to eliminate and recover from protoporphyrin accumulation following exposure to butafenacil during pharyngula.
Butafenacil is an herbicide that inhibits protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPOX), an enzyme that catalyzes oxidation of protoporphyrinogen IX to protoporphyrin IX during chlorophyll and heme biosynthesis. Based on a high-content screen, we previously identified butafenacil as a potent inducer of anemia in zebrafish embryos. Therefore, the objective of this study was to begin investigating the utility of butafenacil as a positive control for identifying anemia- and variegate porphyria-inducing chemicals. Static exposure to butafenacil from 5 to 72 h post-fertilization (hpf) in glass beakers resulted in a concentration-dependent decrease in arterial circulation at low micromolar concentrations. At 72 hpf, the magnitude of butafenacil-induced anemia was similar when embryos were exposed in the presence or absence of light, whereas protoporphyrin accumulation and acute toxicity were significantly lower or absent when embryos were exposed under dark conditions. To identify sensitive developmental windows, we treated embryos to butafenacil from 5, 10, 24, or 48 hpf to 72 hpf in the presence of light, and found that anemia and protoporphyrin accumulation were present at 72 hpf following initiation of exposure at 5 and 10 hpf. On the contrary, protoporphyrin accumulation – but not anemia – was present following initiation of exposure at 24 hpf. Lastly, protoporphyrin accumulation at 72 hpf after exposure from 24 to 48 hpf suggests that protoporphyrin was not eliminated over a 24-h recovery period. Collectively, our data suggests that butafenacil may be a reliable positive control for identifying anemia- and variegate porphyria-inducing chemicals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica K Leet
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
| | - Rachel A Hipszer
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
| | - David C Volz
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
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47
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Isales GM, Hipszer RA, Raftery TD, Chen A, Stapleton HM, Volz DC. Triphenyl phosphate-induced developmental toxicity in zebrafish: potential role of the retinoic acid receptor. AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2015; 161:221-30. [PMID: 25725299 PMCID: PMC4373973 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2015.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2014] [Revised: 02/13/2015] [Accepted: 02/16/2015] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Using zebrafish as a model, we previously reported that developmental exposure to triphenyl phosphate (TPP) - a high-production volume organophosphate-based flame retardant - results in dioxin-like cardiac looping impairments that are independent of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor. Using a pharmacologic approach, the objective of this study was to investigate the potential role of retinoic acid receptor (RAR) - a nuclear receptor that regulates vertebrate heart morphogenesis - in mediating TPP-induced developmental toxicity in zebrafish. We first revealed that static exposure of zebrafish from 5-72h post-fertilization (hpf) to TPP in the presence of non-toxic concentrations of an RAR antagonist (BMS493) significantly enhanced TPP-induced toxicity (relative to TPP alone), even though identical non-toxic BMS493 concentrations mitigated retinoic acid (RA)-induced toxicity. BMS493-mediated enhancement of TPP toxicity was not a result of differential TPP uptake or metabolism, as internal embryonic doses of TPP and diphenyl phosphate (DPP) - a primary TPP metabolite - were not different in the presence or absence of BMS493. Using real-time PCR, we then quantified the relative change in expression of cytochrome P450 26a1 (cyp26a1) - a major target gene for RA-induced RAR activation in zebrafish - and found that RA and TPP exposure resulted in a ∼5-fold increase and decrease in cyp26a1 expression, respectively, relative to vehicle-exposed embryos. To address whether TPP may interact with human RARs, we then exposed Chinese hamster ovary cells stably transfected with chimeric human RARα-, RARβ-, or RARγ to TPP in the presence of RA, and found that TPP significantly inhibited RA-induced luciferase activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Overall, our findings suggest that zebrafish RARs may be involved in mediating TPP-induced developmental toxicity, a mechanism of action that may have relevance to humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory M Isales
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Rachel A Hipszer
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Tara D Raftery
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Albert Chen
- Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Heather M Stapleton
- Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - David C Volz
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
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48
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Zhuang S, Zhang Z, Zhang W, Bao L, Xu C, Zhang H. Enantioselective developmental toxicity and immunotoxicity of pyraclofos toward zebrafish (Danio rerio). AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2015; 159:119-126. [PMID: 25540855 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2014.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2014] [Revised: 12/03/2014] [Accepted: 12/07/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Pyraclofos, a relatively new organophosphorus pesticide, has shown potential ecotoxicities, however, its aquatic toxicity, especially enantioselective aquatic toxicity, remains largely unknown. Using zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a preeminent vertebrate aquatic model, the enantioselective differences in the developmental toxicity and immunotoxicity of pyraclofos were evaluated. Following 96-h exposure, pyraclofos enantiomers exhibited acute toxicity and showed lethal concentration 50 of 2.23 and 3.99 mg/L for (R)-Pyraclofos and (S)-Pyraclofos, respectively. Exposure to pyraclofos caused time- and concentration-dependent malformations such as pericardial edema, yolk sac edema, crooked bodies and hatching during the embryonic development, with markedly higher percentages of malformation at higher concentrations. The concentration-dependent immunotoxicity to zebrafish embryo exposed to low level pyraclofos was induced with significant up-regulation of mRNA levels of immune-related interleukin-1β (IL-1β) gene. (R)-Pyraclofos was consistently more toxic than (S)-Pyraclofos for the acute toxicity, developmental toxicity and immunotoxicity to zebrafish. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that at the atomic level, (R)-Pyraclofos binds more potently to IL-1β protein than (S)-Pyraclofos. This enantioselective binding is mainly contributed by the distinct binding mode of pyraclofos enantiomers and their electrostatic interactions with IL-1β, which potentially affects IL-1β-dependent proinflammatory signal transduction. Our in vitro and in silico studies provided a better insight into the molecular basis for aquatic toxicity and thus improved the risk assessment for pyraclofos and other chiral organophosphorus pesticides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shulin Zhuang
- Institute of Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou 310058, PR China.
| | - Zhisheng Zhang
- Institute of Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China
| | - Wenjing Zhang
- Institute of Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou 310058, PR China
| | - Lingling Bao
- Institute of Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou 310058, PR China
| | - Chao Xu
- Research Center of Environmental Science, College of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, PR China.
| | - Hu Zhang
- Institute of Quality and Standard for Agro-products, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 210021, PR China
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Yasgar A, Simeonov A. Current approaches for the discovery of drugs that deter substance and drug abuse. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2014; 9:1319-31. [PMID: 25251069 DOI: 10.1517/17460441.2014.956721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Much has been presented and debated on the topic of drug abuse and its multidimensional nature, including the role of society and its customs and laws, economical factors, and the magnitude and nature of the burden. Given the complex nature of the receptors and pathways implicated in regulation of the cognitive and behavioral processes associated with addiction, a large number of molecular targets have been interrogated during recent years to discover starting points for development of small-molecule interventions. AREAS COVERED This review describes recent developments in the field of early drug discovery for drug abuse interventions with an emphasis on the advances published during the 2012 - 2014 period. EXPERT OPINION Technologically, the processes/platforms utilized in drug abuse drug discovery are nearly identical to those used in the other disease areas. A key complicating factor in drug abuse research is the enormous biological complexity surrounding the brain processes involved and the associated difficulty in finding 'good' targets and achieving exquisite selectivity of treatment agents. While tremendous progress has been made during recent years to use the power of high-throughput technologies to discover proof-of-principle molecules for many new targets, next-generation models will be especially important in this field. Examples include: seeking advantageous drug-drug combinations, the use of automated whole-animal behavioral screening systems, advancing our understanding of the role of epigenetics in drug addiction and the employment of organoid-level 3D test platforms (also referred to as tissue-chip or organs-on-chip).
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Yasgar
- National Institutes of Health, NIH Chemical Genomics Center, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences , Bethesda, MD , USA +1 301 217 5721 ; +1 301 217 5736 ;
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50
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Bugel SM, Tanguay RL, Planchart A. Zebrafish: A marvel of high-throughput biology for 21 st century toxicology. Curr Environ Health Rep 2014; 1:341-352. [PMID: 25678986 DOI: 10.1007/s40572-014-0029-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The evolutionary conservation of genomic, biochemical and developmental features between zebrafish and humans is gradually coming into focus with the end result that the zebrafish embryo model has emerged as a powerful tool for uncovering the effects of environmental exposures on a multitude of biological processes with direct relevance to human health. In this review, we highlight advances in automation, high-throughput (HT) screening, and analysis that leverage the power of the zebrafish embryo model for unparalleled advances in our understanding of how chemicals in our environment affect our health and wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean M Bugel
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97333
| | - Robert L Tanguay
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97333
| | - Antonio Planchart
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695
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