Cortisol is a stress hormone essential for fetal development in humans. Increased prenatal cortisol exposure due to maternal stress can alter fetal neurodevelopment. Previous studies in our lab identified morphological changes in zebrafish larvae due to embryonic cortisol exposure. Cortisol primarily acts through two receptors, the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), which are crucial to the regulation and development of many physiological processes. MRs are crucial to the regulation and development of many physiological processes. Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) is a synthetic glucocorticoid that binds selectively to the MR. In this study, we tested how activating the mineralocorticoid receptors affects the morphology of embryonic development in zebrafish. Zebrafish embryos were treated with different concentrations of DOC at 3 hours post fertilization (hpf). Embryos were then imaged at 72 hpf with brightfield microscopy. Images were scored for morphological phenotypes and the severity of phenotypes. Results show a dose-dependent change in morphological phenotypes due to DOC treatment. These experiments inform our understanding of how different corticosteroid receptors affect zebrafish morphology in embryonic development.
