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Correspondence to Author:  Parnia Azimian Zavareh¹, Sophie Chen¹, Barbara Triggs-Raine², Devi Atukorallaya^1*, 

Department of Oral Biology, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, Department of Biochemistry & Medical Genetics, Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.

DOI: 10.52338/tjoa.2024.4109

Abstract:

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can negatively affect fetal development. Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been associated with various birth defects and has shared numerous dental deficits with individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), such as Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT), malocclusion, caries, speech impairment, and enamel defects. While distinct developmental defects have been established, less is known about the mechanisms leading to such phenotypes in tooth development. A possible explanation could be that Alcohol interacts with signaling pathways in tooth development; thus, using zebrafish (Danio rerio), we aimed to investigate the histological arrangement and cellular changes in dental defects caused by the Alcohol and Wnt signaling pathway interaction. We treated zebrafish embryos with 1% Alcohol, 2mM LiCl (Wnt activator), 10nM WNT-C59 (Wnt inhibitor), and a combination of Alcohol and Wnt modulators. Whole mount staining and histological analysis across experimental groups revealed differential tooth/tooth germ numbers, sizes, shapes, mineralization pattern, as well as Wnt10a and Wnt10b expression levels. Interestingly, combined treatments of Alcohol with LiCl showed similarities to Alcohol alone, whereas Alcohol with WNT-C59 acted synergistically to disrupt tooth development.

Citation:

Devi. Atukorallaya. Effect of Alcohol and Wnt Signaling Pathway Interactions in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Tooth Development. The Journal of Anatomy 2024.