Project description:Thallium (Tl) is a trace metal element used in the electronics, semiconductor and electro-optical industries. With the development of high-tech industries, thallium severely pollutes the aquatic environment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cardiotoxicity and developmental toxicity of Tl by using vertebrate model zebrafish embryos. RNA-seq was performed on wild type zebrafish embryos exposed to 0, 200, and 800 ppb Tl from 6 to 48 hpf. The transcriptomic profile revealed molecular understanding regarding the cardiovascular and developmental toxicity of Tl, providing valuable information for risk assessment of the emerging contaminant thallium.
Project description:Silver nanoparticles cause toxicity in exposed organisms and are an environmental health concern. The mechanisms of silver nanoparticle toxicity, however, remain unclear. We examined the effects of exposure to silver in nano-, bulk- and ionic forms on zebrafish embryos (Danio rerio) using a Next Generation Sequencing approach in an Illumina platform (High-Throughput SuperSAGE). Significant alterations in gene expression were found for all treatments and many of the gene pathways affected, most notably those associated with oxidative phosphorylation and protein synthesis, overlapped strongly between the three treatments indicating similar mechanisms of toxicity for the three forms of silver studied. Changes in oxidative phosphorylation indicated a down-regulation of this pathway at 24h of exposure, but with a recovery at 48h. This finding was consistent with a dose-dependent decrease in oxygen consumption at 24h, but not at 48h, following exposure to silver ions. Overall, our data provide support for the hypothesis that the toxicity caused by silver nanoparticles is principally associated with bioavailable silver ions in exposed zebrafish embryos. These findings are important in the evaluation of the risk that silver particles may pose to exposed vertebrate organisms. mRNA profiles of whole zebrafish embryos at 24 and 48 hours post-fertilisation (hpf) exposed to silver in nano, bulk and ionic forms were generated by deep sequencing using HT-SuperSAGE (Illumina GA2).
Project description:Silver nanoparticles cause toxicity in exposed organisms and are an environmental health concern. The mechanisms of silver nanoparticle toxicity, however, remain unclear. We examined the effects of exposure to silver in nano-, bulk- and ionic forms on zebrafish embryos (Danio rerio) using a Next Generation Sequencing approach in an Illumina platform (High-Throughput SuperSAGE). Significant alterations in gene expression were found for all treatments and many of the gene pathways affected, most notably those associated with oxidative phosphorylation and protein synthesis, overlapped strongly between the three treatments indicating similar mechanisms of toxicity for the three forms of silver studied. Changes in oxidative phosphorylation indicated a down-regulation of this pathway at 24h of exposure, but with a recovery at 48h. This finding was consistent with a dose-dependent decrease in oxygen consumption at 24h, but not at 48h, following exposure to silver ions. Overall, our data provide support for the hypothesis that the toxicity caused by silver nanoparticles is principally associated with bioavailable silver ions in exposed zebrafish embryos. These findings are important in the evaluation of the risk that silver particles may pose to exposed vertebrate organisms.
Project description:The zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo toxicity test (DarT) is considered as an alternative to the acute fish toxicity test. However, DarT rarely reveals information on the mechanisms underlying a toxic effect and is relatively insensitive compared to chronic toxic effects. We hypothesized that, by using gene expression profiles as an additional endpoint, it may be possible to increase the sensitivity and predictive value of DarT. Therefore we exposed zebrafish embryos for 48 h to the reference compound 3,4-dichloroaniline and analyzed gene expression patterns with a 14 k oligonucleotide array. Keywords: differential gene expression upon chemical exposure in zebrafish embryos
Project description:RNA-seq of wild-type Tüpfel long fin (TLF) zebrafish embryos developmentally exposed to three addictive drugs - 5 µM nicotine, 1.14 µM oxycodone and 5 µM amphetamine. Each of the 24 samples (6 samples per drug, plus 6 control samples) represents RNA from a pool of seven 5 dpf zebrafish embryos, exposed to the drug between 1 dpf and 5 dpf.
Project description:To test wether endocrine disruption is detectable in zebrafish at the transcriptome level, we exposed newly fertilized zebrafish embryos to low doses of genistein (EC10 and EC20) for 48 hours.
Project description:Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) is a high-production volume organophosphate flame retardant widely used within the United States. Within zebrafish, initiation of TDCIPP exposure at 0.75 h post-fertilization (hpf) results in genome-wide alterations in methylation during cleavage (2 hpf) as well as epiboly delay or arrest (at higher concentrations) during late-blastula and early-gastrula (4-6 hpf). To determine whether these TDCIPP-induced effects were associated with impacts on the transcriptome, embryos were exposed to vehicle (0.1% DMSO) or 2 μM TDCIPP from 0.75 hpf to 6 hpf, and total RNA was extracted from triplicate embryo pools per treatment and hybridized onto duplicate Affymetrix Zebrafish Gene 1.0 ST Arrays per RNA sample. Based on transcriptome-wide profiling, TDCIPP resulted in a significant impact on biological pathways involved in dorsoventral patterning and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling. Consistent with pathway-level responses, TDCIPP exposure also resulted in strongly dorsalized embryos by 24 hpf – a phenotype that mimicked the effects of dorsomorphin, a potent and selective BMP inhibitor. Moreover, the majority of dorsalized embryos were preceded by epiboly arrest at 6 hpf. Our microarray data also revealed that the expression of sizzled (szl) – a gene encoding a secreted Frizzled-related protein that limits BMP signaling – was significantly decreased by nearly 4-fold at 6 hpf. Therefore, we used a splice-blocking morpholino to test the hypothesis that knockdown of szl phenocopies TDCIPP-induced delays in epiboly progression. Interestingly, contrary to our hypothesis, injection of szl MOs did not affect epiboly progression but, similar to chordin (chd) morphants, resulted in mildly ventralized embryos by 24 hpf. Overall, our findings suggest that TDCIPP-induced epiboly delay may be independent of szl expression and function, and that TDCIPP-induced dorsalization may – similar to dorsomorphin – be due to interference with BMP signaling during early zebrafish.