tretinoin and flusilazole

Developmental toxicity can be caused through a multitude of mechanisms and can therefore not be captured through a single simple mechanistic paradigm. However, it may be possible to define a selected group of overarching mechanisms that might allow detection of the vast majority of developmental toxicants. Against this background, we have explored the usefulness of retinoic acid mediated regulation of neural tube and axial patterning as a general mechanism that, when perturbed, may result in manifestations of developmental toxicity that may cover a large part of malformations known to occur in experimental animals and in man. Through a literature survey, we have identified key genes in the regulation of retinoic acid homeostasis, as well as marker genes of neural tube and axial patterning, that may be used to detect developmental toxicants in in vitro systems. A retinoic acid-neural tube/axial patterning adverse outcome pathway (RA-NTA AOP) framework was designed. The framework was tested against existing data of flusilazole exposure in the rat whole embryo culture, the zebrafish embryotoxicity test, and the embryonic stem cell test. Flusilazole is known to interact with retinoic acid homeostasis, and induced common and unique NTA marker gene changes in the three test systems. Flusilazole-induced changes were similar in directionality to gene expression responses after retinoic acid exposure. It is suggested that the RA-NTA framework may provide a general tool to define mechanistic pathways and biomarkers of developmental toxicity that may be used in alternative in vitro assays for the detection of embryotoxic compounds.

Topics: Animals; Body Patterning; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Embryonic Stem Cells; Homeostasis; Neural Tube; Rats; Silanes; Teratogens; Tretinoin; Triazoles; Zebrafish

Embryotoxic responses are critically dependent on the timing of exposure during embryo development. Here, we examined the time- dependent developmental effects in rat embryos exposed to flusilazole (FLU), and their link to retinoic acid (RA) mediated pathways. To this end, we assessed the effects of 4h exposure of rat embryos in vitro to 300μM FLU during four developmental time windows (0-4, 4-8, 24-28 and 44-48h), evaluating morphological parameters, expression and localization of five genes directly or indirectly linked with the RA pathway. These were RA- (Cyp26a1 and Dhrs3), differentiation- (Gbx2 and Cdx1) and sterol biosynthesis- (Cyp51) related genes. Extended exposure for 48h to 300μM FLU resulted in morphological changes, typical for triazoles and RA, while the 4h exposure times did not. Time dependent significant upregulation of the five selected genes was observed. These results corroborate that the embryotoxic responses to FLU are correlated with the regulation of the RA pathway. Thus, these gene expression markers can be considered early biomarkers of FLU-induced potential developmental toxicity later in the development.

Topics: Animals; Embryo Culture Techniques; Embryo, Mammalian; Fungicides, Industrial; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genetic Markers; Rats, Wistar; Silanes; Sterols; Time Factors; Tretinoin; Triazoles