864B Poster - 13. Neural development and physiology
Friday April 08, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Bisphenol A exposure impacts neurodevelopmental gene expression, cognitive function, and synaptic morphology in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Judith Anderson 1; Chloe Welch 1; Rana Ghobashy 1; Salma Elliessy 1; Eden Johnson 2; Angelina Tupikova 1; Johnathan Newman 1; Adam Alfareh 1; Erin Widman 1; Alexandra Davis 1; Wendy Lee 2; Kimberly Mulligan 1
Affiliations: 1) California State University, Sacramento; 2) California State University, San Jose
Keywords: t. other (Gene expression and synaptogenesis); f. learning/memory
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmentally prevalent endocrine disrupting chemical that may be a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders. BPA has been associated with behavioral impairment in children and causes a variety of neurodevelopmental phenotypes in model organisms. We used Drosophila melanogaster as model to explore the consequences of developmental BPA exposure on gene expression, cognitive function, and synapse development. Following RNA-sequencing, we performed Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and found neurodevelopmentally relevant genes were significantly impacted by BPA (1mM). Among the top misregulated genes were those associated with learning and synapse development. To measure learning, we used a behavioral paradigm called conditioned courtship suppression. In this paradigm, male flies are exposed to an unreceptive female (an “aversive stimulus”) for an hour. Flies with unimpaired learning exhibit a significant decrease in their courtship activity in the final ten minutes compared to the initial ten minutes of the assessment period. We found that BPA-treated flies did not reduce their courtship activity in the final ten-minute interval, indicating that BPA impaired learning. We also used immunofluorescence to examine synapse morphology within the larval neuromuscular junction and found BPA significantly increased the number of axonal branches. Our findings align with studies of BPA in mammalian model organisms, suggesting that BPA impairs functionally conserved neurodevelopmental pathways. Further, because Drosophila do not possess classic estrogen receptors, this research indicates that BPA can impact neurodevelopment by molecular mechanisms distinct from its role as an estrogen mimic.