A Mechanistic Review of Environmental Stressor to Decode Their Effect on Congenital Malformations: A Developmental Toxicity.

Abstract

Environmental toxicants (ENVOTOX) have emerged as critical risk factors for congenital malformations (CMFs) in the modern industrial era. Although epidemiological evidence underscores their adverse impact on pregnancy outcomes, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain insufficiently defined. This review consolidates current insights into exposome toxicity profiling, developmental pathway disruptions, and molecular mapping to identify potential biomarkers and mechanistic links between ENVOTOX and CMFs. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis identified 35 CMF-associated proteins, with ten fibroblast growth factors (FGFs: FGF4, FGF5, FGF8, FGF9, FGF10, FGF16, FGF17, FGF18, FGF20, and FGF22) prioritized as hub nodes. Molecular docking analysis showed high binding affinity of FGF9 and FGF4 toward dioxin-associated toxicants, with dibenzo-p-dioxin (DBPDO) exhibiting the strongest interaction (binding energy: -7.2 kcal/mol), followed by polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDBFs) (-6.7 kcal/mol) with FGF9. Notably, FGF9 exhibited mutagenic binding potential at ASN146, mediated through π-donor hydrogen bonding with DBPDO. Comparative toxicity data further highlighted the acute risks, as DBPDO demonstrated a lower LD₅₀ (2.26 mol/kg) relative to PCDBFs (4.134 mol/kg). Collectively, this review emphasizes the central role of FGFs in mediating ENVOTOX-induced teratogenicity and offers molecular-level perspectives to guide biomarker discovery and intervention strategies for mitigating CMF risk.