Assessing the developmental toxicity of environmental contaminants in the zebrafish

In this presentation I will give an overview of research in our group with the zebrafish embryo as a model to unravel molecular mechanisms of developmental toxicity. We also use the zebrafish embryo to direct the identification of (unknown) teratogenic contaminants in the environment. We have established toxicity assays in the zebrafish embryo, as well as in embryonic zebrafish cell lines, to investigate environmentally contaminants and mixtures for their embryotoxic potential. Using a genomics approach, we have identified novel mechanisms of toxicity for hydroxylated brominated flame retardants as well as dithiocarbamates (DTC), a group of widely used pesticides. Using an “effect directed analysis” (EDA) approach in which bioassays direct chemical analysis, we have recently identified previously unknown teratogenic chemicals in soil samples collected from a former municipal landfill site. The mechanisms of toxicity of these novel teratogens are currently being researched with gene expression analysis. The application of gene expression profiling in EDA is a main theme in future research.