Automated morphological feature assessment for zebrafish embryo developmental toxicity screens

Detection of developmental phenotypes in zebrafish embryos typically involves a visual assessment and scoring of morphological features by an individual researcher. Subjective scoring could impact results and be of particular concern when phenotypic effect patterns are also used as a diagnostic tool...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Teixidó Condomines, Elisabet, Kießling, Tobias R., Krupp, E., Quevedo, Celia, Muriana, Arantza, Scholz, Stefan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/165327
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/165327
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Embriologia
Farmacocinètica
Toxicologia
Fisiologia
Peix zebra
Embryology
Pharmacokinetics
Toxicology
Physiology
Zebra danio
Descripción
Sumario:Detection of developmental phenotypes in zebrafish embryos typically involves a visual assessment and scoring of morphological features by an individual researcher. Subjective scoring could impact results and be of particular concern when phenotypic effect patterns are also used as a diagnostic tool to classify compounds. Here we introduce a quantitative morphometric approach based on image analysis of zebrafish embryos. A software called FishInspector was developed to detect morphological features from images collected using an automated system to position zebrafish embryos. The analysis was verified and compared with visual assessments of 3 participating laboratories using 3 known developmental toxicants (methotrexate, dexamethasone, and topiramate) and 2 negative compounds (loratadine and glibenclamide). The quantitative approach exhibited higher sensitivity and made it possible to compare patterns of effects with the potential to establish a grouping and classification of developmental toxicants. Our approach improves the robustness of phenotype scoring and reliability of assay performance and, hence, is anticipated to improve the predictivity of developmental toxicity screening using the zebrafish embryo.