title: Use of the enhanced frog embryo teratogenesis assay-Xenopus (FETAX) to determine chemically-induced phenotypic effects.
abstract: The frog embryo teratogenesis assay-Xenopus (FETAX) is an established method for the evaluation of the developmental toxicities of chemicals. To develop an enhanced FETAX that is appropriate for common environmental contaminants, we exposed Xenopus tropicalis embryos to eight compounds, including tributyltin, triphenyltin, CdCl2, pyraclostrobin, picoxystrobin, coumoxystrobin, all-trans-retinoic acid and 9-cis-retinoic acid. Multiple malformations were induced in embryos particularly following exposure to tributyltin, triphenyltin and pyraclostrobin at environmentally relevant concentrations. Based on the range of observed malformations, we proposed a phenotypic assessment method with 20 phenotypes and a 0-5 scoring system. This derived index exhibited concentration-dependent relationships for all of the chemicals tested. Furthermore, the phenotype profiles were characteristic of the different tested chemicals. Our results indicate that malformation phenotypes can be quantitatively integrated with the primary endpoints in conventional FETAX assessments to allow for increased sensitivity and measurement of quantitative effects and to provide indicative mechanistic information for each tested chemical.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Jingmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; School of Biological, Biomedical & Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jeanette M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rotchell
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Lijiao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Jinjuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China. Electronic address: hhshi@des.ecnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huahong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000014:Abnormalities, Drug-Induced; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000187:drug effects*; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000633:toxicity*; D064793:Teratogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014981:Xenopus
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances
keywords: Developmental toxicity; Embryo; FETAX; Phenotypic alterations; Pollutants; Teratogenicity