PUBLICATION

The transcriptome of the zebrafish embryo after chemical exposure - a meta-analysis

Authors
Schüttler, A., Reiche, K., Altenburger, R., Busch, W.
ID
ZDB-PUB-170323-1
Date
2017
Source
Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology   157(2): 291-304 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
Toxicogenomics, meta-analysis, microarray, stress response, transcriptome, zebrafish embryo
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian/drug effects*
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Hazardous Substances*/chemistry
  • Hazardous Substances*/toxicity
  • Toxicogenetics
  • Transcriptome/drug effects*
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
  • Zebrafish/genetics
PubMed
28329862 Full text @ Toxicol. Sci.
Abstract
Numerous studies have been published in the past years investigating the transcriptome of the zebrafish embryo (ZFE) upon being subjected to chemical stress. Aiming at a more mechanistic understanding of the results of such studies, knowledge about commonalities of transcript regulation in response to chemical stress is needed. Thus, our goal in this study was to identify and interpret genes and gene sets constituting a general response to chemical exposure. Therefore, we aggregated and reanalyzed published toxicogenomics data obtained with the ZFE.We found that overlap of differentially transcribed genes in response to chemical stress across independent studies is generally low and the most commonly differentially transcribed genes appear in less than 50% of all treatments across studies. However, effect size analysis revealed several genes showing a common trend of differential expression among which genes related to calcium homeostasis emerged as key, especially in exposure settings up to 24 hours post fertilization. Additionally, we found that these and other downregulated genes are often linked to anatomical regions developing during the respective exposure period. Genes showing a trend of increased expression were, among others, linked to signaling pathways (e.g., Wnt, Fgf) as well as lysosomal structures and apoptosis.The findings of this study help to increase the understanding of chemical stress responses in the developing zebrafish embryo and provide a starting point to improve experimental designs for this model system. In future, improved time- and concentration-resolved experiments should offer better understanding of stress response patterns and access to mechanistic information.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping