Silver Nanoparticles in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Embryos: Uptake, Growth and Molecular Responses
by
Liyuan Qiang 1,†, Zeinab H. Arabeyyat 2,†, Qi Xin 1, Vesselin N. Paunov 3
, Imogen J. F. Dale 4, Richard I. Lloyd Mills 4, Jeanette M. Rotchell 4,* and Jinping Cheng 1,5,*
Liyuan Qiang 1,†, Zeinab H. Arabeyyat 2,†, Qi Xin 1, Vesselin N. Paunov 3, Imogen J. F. Dale 4, Richard I. Lloyd Mills 4, Jeanette M. Rotchell 4,* and Jinping Cheng 1,5,*
1
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
2
Department of Marine Biology, the University of Jordan, Aqaba branch, Aqaba 77111, Jordan
3
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
4
School of Biological, Biomedical, and Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
5
Hong Kong Branch of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Lab (Guangzhou) & Department of Ocean Science, School of Science, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Joint first authors.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(5), 1876; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21051876
Received: 12 January 2020 / Revised: 27 February 2020 / Accepted: 3 March 2020 / Published: 9 March 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutritional, Environmental, and Anthropogenic Influence in Molecular Pathways Involved in Fish Development)
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in commercial applications as antimicrobial agents, but there have recently been increasing concerns raised about their possible environmental and health impacts. In this study, zebrafish embryos were exposed to two sizes of AgNP, 4 and 10 nm, through a continuous exposure from 4 to 96 h post-fertilisation (hpf), to study their uptake, impact and molecular defense responses. Results showed that zebrafish embryos were significantly impacted by 72 hpf when continuously exposed to 4 nm AgNPs. At concentrations above 0.963 mg/L, significant in vivo uptake and delayed yolk sac absorption was evident; at 1.925 mg/L, significantly reduced body length was recorded compared to control embryos. Additionally, 4 nm AgNP treatment at the same concentration resulted in significantly upregulated hypoxia inducible factor 4 (HIF4) and peroxisomal membrane protein 2 (Pxmp2) mRNA expression in exposed embryos 96 hpf. In contrast, no significant differences in terms of larvae body length, yolk sac absorption or gene expression levels were observed following exposure to 10 nm AgNPs. These results demonstrated that S4 AgNPs are available for uptake, inducing developmental (measured as body length and yolk sac area) and transcriptional (specifically HIF4 and Pxmp2) perturbations in developing embryos. This study suggests the importance of particle size as one possible factor in determining the developmental toxicity of AgNPs in fish embryos.
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Keywords:
silver nanoparticles; molecular response; continuous exposure; uptake; developmental toxicity; embryos (D. rerio)
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MDPI and ACS Style
Qiang, L.; Arabeyyat, Z.H.; Xin, Q.; Paunov, V.N.; Dale, I.J.F.; Lloyd Mills, R.I.; Rotchell, J.M.; Cheng, J. Silver Nanoparticles in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Embryos: Uptake, Growth and Molecular Responses. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 1876.
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