Skip to main content
Dryad

Developmental exposures to three mammalian teratogens produces dysmorphic phenotypes in adult Caenorhabditis elegans.

Hunt, Piper1

Research facility: United States Food and Drug Administration
Published Jul 09, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xs9

Data files

Jul 09, 2025 version files 7.41 GB

Abstract

Adult morphology was assessed at sublethal concentrations in C. elegans using three mammalian teratogens, 5-fluorouracil (5FU), hydroxyurea (HU), or ribavirin (RV). C. elegans develop from egg to adult with internal eggs in about 70h at 20°C in C. elegans Habitation Medium (CeHM). Cohorts were exposed from first feeding after hatching for either 24h (early-only) or continuously for four days. Significant increases in the percentage of prolapsed individuals were seen on the first day of adulthood in both continuous and early-only 5FU and HU exposure groups. In contrast, continuous RV exposures induced gonad arm and vulval anomalies that were largely but not completely reversed in the early-only exposure groups. Reductions in reproductive output with continuous exposures recovered, though not fully, with early-only exposures for all three chemicals. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic evaluation of C. elegans morphology changes induced by mammalian teratogens. These data suggest that C. elegans may be a useful model for detecting chemicals with human teratogenic potential, but further studies using larger chemical test panels are needed.