Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.mex.2021.101330
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Automated measurement of the spontaneous tail coiling of zebrafish embryos as a sensitive behavior endpoint using a workflow in KNIME
Author Ogungbemi, A.O.; Teixido, E.; Massei, R.; Scholz, S. ORCID logo ; Küster, E. ORCID logo
Source Titel MethodsX
Year 2021
Department BIOTOX; WANA
Volume 8
Page From art. 101330
Language englisch
Topic T9 Healthy Planet
Supplements https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2215016121001230-mmc1.xls
https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2215016121001230-mmc2.mp4
https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2215016121001230-mmc3.jpg
Keywords Developmental neurotoxicity; Behavior toxicology; Spontaneous activity; Hyperactivity; Hypoactivity; Alternatives to Animal Testing
Abstract

Neuroactive substances are the largest group of chemicals detected in European surface waters. Mixtures of neuroactive substances occurring at low concentrations can induce adverse neurological effects in humans and organisms in the environment. Therefore, there is a need to develop new screening tools to detect these chemicals. Measurement of behavior or motor effects in rodents and fish are usually performed to assess potential neurotoxicity for risk assessment. However, due to pain and stress inflicted on these animals, the scientific community is advocating for new alternative methods based on the 3R principle (reduce, replace and refine). As a result, the behavior measurement of early stages of zebrafish embryos such as locomotor response, photomotor response and spontaneous tail coiling are considered as a valid alternative to adult animal testing. In this study, we developed a workflow to investigate the spontaneous tail coiling (STC) of zebrafish embryos and to accurately measure the STC effect in the KNIME software. We validated the STC protocol with 3 substances (abamectin, chlorpyrifos-oxon and pyracostrobin) which have different mechanisms of action. The KNIME workflow combined with easy and cost-effective method of video acquisition makes this STC protocol a valuable method for neurotoxicity testing.


Video acquisition duration of 60 s at 25±1 hpf was used
20 embryos exposed per dish and acclimatized for 30 mins before video acquisition
Capability to inspect and correct errors for high accuracy

Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=24430
Ogungbemi, A.O., Teixido, E., Massei, R., Scholz, S., Küster, E. (2021):
Automated measurement of the spontaneous tail coiling of zebrafish embryos as a sensitive behavior endpoint using a workflow in KNIME
MethodsX 8 , art. 101330 10.1016/j.mex.2021.101330