Screening assays, teratogenic

Selderslaghs IW, Van Rompay AR, De Coen W, Witters HE (2009) Development of a screening assay to identify teratogenic and embryotoxic... 

Fig. 3. Schematic of teratogenicity screening assay. Fertilized eggs are collected within a few hours of spawning. The chorions can be removed by gentle enzymatic treatment with manual removal as needed. The embryos are then cultured for the desired period of time. When embryos are incubated in 1 ml of medium, continuous exposure (without medium changes) is possible for at least 5 days. Embryos are exposed to the test substance in the culture medium. At the desired timepoint(s) (e.g., 5 dpt), larvae can be evaluated for viability and developmental parameters. (Reprinted from Brannen et al. (4), by permission of John Wiley and Sons.).

Walmod PS, Gravemann U, Nau H, et al. Discriminative power of an assay for automated in vitro screening of teratogens. Toxicol In Vitro. 2004 18(4) 511-525. 

While there is no standard assay design for teratogenicity or developmental toxicity screening, there are many similarities in the types of assays that have been described in the literature (4-9, 22-25). One version of these (4) is described here, and an overview of the assay design is shown in Fig. 3. Variations on this assay (alone or in combination with other techniques) can also be used for more descriptive characterization of the effects of a test substance or evaluation of the mechanisms of developmental toxicity. 

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