TY - JOUR
T1 - Chemical Exposure-Induced Developmental Neurotoxicity in Head-Regenerating Schmidtea mediterranea
AU - Morris, Johnathan
AU - Bealer, Elizabeth J.
AU - Souza, Ivan D.S.
AU - Repmann, Lauren
AU - Bonelli, Hannah
AU - Stanzione, Joseph F.
AU - Staehle, Mary M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].
PY - 2022/2/1
Y1 - 2022/2/1
N2 - The growing number of commercially used chemicals that are under-evaluated for developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) combined with the difficulty in describing the etiology of exposure-related neurodevelopmental toxicity has created a reticent threat to human health. Current means of screening chemicals for DNT are limited to expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive traditional laboratory animal models. In this study, we hypothesize that exposed head-regenerating planarian flatworms can effectively and efficiently categorize DNT in known developmental neurotoxins (ethanol and bisphenol A [BPA]). Planarian flatworms are an established alternative animal model for neurodevelopmental studies and have remarkable regenerative abilities allowing neurodevelopment to be induced via head resection. Here, we observed changes in photophobic behavior and central nervous system (CNS) morphology to evaluate the impact of exposure to low concentrations of ethanol, BPA, and BPA industry alternatives bisphenol F, and bisguaiacol on neurodevelopment. Our studies show that exposure to 1% v/v ethanol during regeneration induces a recoverable 48-h delay in the development of proper CNS integrity, which aligns with behavioral assessments of cognitive ability. Exposure to BPA and its alternatives induced deviations to neurodevelopment in a range of severities, distinguished by suppressions, delays, or a combination of the 2. These results suggest that quick and inexpensive behavioral assessments are a viable surrogate for tedious and costly immunostaining studies, equipping more utility and resolution to the planarian model for neurodevelopmental toxicity in the future of mass chemical screening. These studies demonstrate that behavioral phenotypes observed following chemical exposure are classifiable and also temporally correlated to the anatomical development of the CNS in planaria. This will facilitate and accelerate toxicological screening assays with this alternative animal model.
AB - The growing number of commercially used chemicals that are under-evaluated for developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) combined with the difficulty in describing the etiology of exposure-related neurodevelopmental toxicity has created a reticent threat to human health. Current means of screening chemicals for DNT are limited to expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive traditional laboratory animal models. In this study, we hypothesize that exposed head-regenerating planarian flatworms can effectively and efficiently categorize DNT in known developmental neurotoxins (ethanol and bisphenol A [BPA]). Planarian flatworms are an established alternative animal model for neurodevelopmental studies and have remarkable regenerative abilities allowing neurodevelopment to be induced via head resection. Here, we observed changes in photophobic behavior and central nervous system (CNS) morphology to evaluate the impact of exposure to low concentrations of ethanol, BPA, and BPA industry alternatives bisphenol F, and bisguaiacol on neurodevelopment. Our studies show that exposure to 1% v/v ethanol during regeneration induces a recoverable 48-h delay in the development of proper CNS integrity, which aligns with behavioral assessments of cognitive ability. Exposure to BPA and its alternatives induced deviations to neurodevelopment in a range of severities, distinguished by suppressions, delays, or a combination of the 2. These results suggest that quick and inexpensive behavioral assessments are a viable surrogate for tedious and costly immunostaining studies, equipping more utility and resolution to the planarian model for neurodevelopmental toxicity in the future of mass chemical screening. These studies demonstrate that behavioral phenotypes observed following chemical exposure are classifiable and also temporally correlated to the anatomical development of the CNS in planaria. This will facilitate and accelerate toxicological screening assays with this alternative animal model.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123901208&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85123901208&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/toxsci/kfab132
DO - 10.1093/toxsci/kfab132
M3 - Article
C2 - 34791476
SN - 1096-6080
VL - 185
SP - 220
EP - 231
JO - Toxicological Sciences
JF - Toxicological Sciences
IS - 2
ER -