Zebrafish are increasingly used for developmental neurotoxicity testing because early embryonic events are easy to visualize, exposures are done without affecting the mother and the rapid development of zebrafish allows for high throughput testing. We used zebrafish to examine how exposures to three different organophosphorus pesticides (chlorpyrifos, diazinon and parathion) over the first five days of embryonic and larval development of zebrafish affected their survival, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and behavior. We show that at non-lethal, equimolar concentrations, chlorpyrifos (CPF) is more effective at equimolar concentrations than diazinon (DZN) and parathion (PA) in producing AChE inhibition. As concentrations of DZN and PA are raised, lethality occurs before they can produce the degree of AChE inhibition observed with CPF at 300nM. Because of its availability outside the mother at the time of fertilization, zebrafish provides a complementary model for studying the neurotoxicity of very early developmental exposures.

BackgroundIn order to generate hypotheses regarding the mechanisms by which 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (dioxin) causes toxicity, we analyzed global gene expression changes in developing zebrafish embryos exposed to this potent toxicant in the context of a dynamic gene network. For this purpose, we also computationally inferred a zebrafish (Danio rerio) interactome based on orthologs and interaction data from other eukaryotes.Methodology/Principal FindingsUsing novel computational tools to analyze this interactome, we distinguished between dioxin-dependent and dioxin-independent interactions between proteins, and tracked the temporal propagation of dioxin-dependent transcriptional changes from a few genes that were altered initially, to large groups of biologically coherent genes at later times. The most notable processes altered at later developmental stages were calcium and iron metabolism, embryonic morphogenesis including neuronal and retinal development, a variety of mitochondria-related functions, and generalized stress response (not including induction of antioxidant genes). Within the interactome, many of these responses were connected to cytochrome P4501A (cyp1a) as well as other genes that were dioxin-regulated one day after exposure. This suggests that cyp1a may play a key role initiating the toxic dysregulation of those processes, rather than serving simply as a passive marker of dioxin exposure, as suggested by earlier research.Conclusions/SignificanceThus, a powerful microarray experiment coupled with a flexible interactome and multi-pronged interactome tools (which are now made publicly available for microarray analysis and related work) suggest the hypothesis that dioxin, best known in fish as a potent cardioteratogen, has many other targets. Many of these types of toxicity have been observed in mammalian species and are potentially caused by alterations to cyp1a.

The increased use of silver nanoparticles in consumer and medical products has led to elevated human and environmental exposures. Silver nanoparticles act as antibacterial/antifungal agents by releasing Ag+ and recent studies show that Ag+ impairs neural cell replication and differentiation in culture, suggesting that in vivo exposures could compromise neurodevelopment. To determine whether Ag+ impairs development in vivo, we examined the effects of exposure on survival, morphological, and behavioral parameters in zebrafish embryos and larvae. Methods We exposed zebrafish from 0–5 days post-fertilization to concentrations of Ag+ ranging from 10 nM to 100 µM in order to assess effects on survival and early embryonic development. We then tested whether concentrations below the threshold for dysmorphology altered larval behavior and subsequent survival. Ag+ concentrations ≥3 µM significantly reduced embryonic survival, whereas 1 µM delayed hatching with no effect on survival. Reducing the concentration to as low as 0.1 µM delayed the inflation of the swim bladder without causing gross dysmorphology or affecting hatching. At this concentration, swimming activity was impaired, an effect that persisted past the point where swim bladder inflation became normal; in contrast, general motor function was unaffected. The early behavioral impairment was then predictive of subsequent decreases in survival. Ag+ is a developmental toxicant within concentrations only slightly above allowable levels. At low concentrations, Ag+ acts as a neurobehavioral toxicant even in the absence of dysmorphology.