Effects of Bisphenol A Exposure on Central Nervous System Development
Abstract
Bisphenol A (BPA), a common environmental toxicant and endocrine disrupting chemical, is becoming increasingly important due to its potential carcinogenicity. The aim of this research project was to study the effects of BPA exposure on the developing central nervous system. Recent studies have characterized the effects of BPA exposure on reproductive and cardiac systems. However, the neurobiological deficits of BPA exposure are largely unknown. Using zebrafish as a model organism, embryos were raised beginning 6 hours post fertilization (hpf) in medium containing varying concentrations of BPA from 1μM to 25μM. Between 6 hpf and 72 hpf, length, movement, hatching, and mortality were measured. Once the embryos matured to 72 hpf, they were euthanized, fixed, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned for immunohistochemistry procedures to study the expression patterns of myosin, PCNA (a marker of cellular proliferation), and caspase-3 (a marker of apoptosis). Additionally, this study aimed to investigate whether BPA exposure interfered with dopamine pathways by examining the expression patterns of tyrosine hydroxylase, using immunohistochemistry procedures and gene expression analyses. These data are potentially relevant to human exposure to BPA, to elucidate its potential negative effects on neurological development and health.
Citation
Anbarasu, Centura R (2017). Effects of Bisphenol A Exposure on Central Nervous System Development. Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /164537.