Background: Exposure of zebrafish embryos to a number of teratogens results in cyclopia, but little is known about the underlying molecular changes.
Methods: Using zebrafish embryos, we compare the effects cyclopamine, forskolin, and ethanol delivered starting just before gastrulation, on gene expression in early axial tissues and forebrain development.
Results: Although all three teratogens suppress gli1 expression, they do so with variable kinetics, suggesting that while suppression of Shh signaling is a common outcome of these three teratogens, it is not a common cause of the cyclopia. Instead, all teratogens studied produce a series of changes in the expression of gsc and six3b present in early axial development, as well as a later suppression of neural crest cell marker dlx3b. Ethanol and forskolin, but not cyclopamine, exposure reduced anterior markers, which most likely contributes to the cyclopic phenotype.
Conclusions: These data suggest that each teratogen exposure leads to a unique set of molecular changes that underlie the single phenotype of cyclopia.