ALBERT

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Environmental Pollution, Volume 254, Part A〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Benben Du, Guangfu Liu, Mingjing Ke, Zhenyan Zhang, Meng Zheng, Tao Lu, Liwei Sun, Haifeng Qian〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈em〉Microcystis aeruginosa〈/em〉 is one of the main species of cyanobacteria that causes water blooms. 〈em〉M. aeruginosa〈/em〉 can release into the water several types of microcystins (MCs), which are harmful to aquatic organisms and even humans. However, few studies have investigated the hepatotoxicity of 〈em〉M. aeruginosa〈/em〉 itself in zebrafish in environments that simulate natural aquatic systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hepatotoxicity of 〈em〉M. aeruginosa〈/em〉 in adult zebrafish (〈em〉Danio rerio〈/em〉) after short-term (96 h) exposure and to elucidate the potential underlying mechanisms. Distinct histological changes in the liver, such as enlargement of the peripheral nuclei and sinusoids and the appearance of fibroblasts, were observed in zebrafish grown in 〈em〉M. aeruginosa〈/em〉 culture. In addition, antioxidant enzyme activity was activated and protein phosphatase (PP) activity was significantly decreased with increasing microalgal density. A proteomic analysis revealed alterations in a number of protein pathways, including ribosome translation, immune response, energy metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation pathways. Western blot and real-time PCR analyses confirmed the results of the proteomic analysis. All results indicated that 〈em〉M. aeruginosa〈/em〉 could disrupt hepatic functions in adult zebrafish, thus highlighting the necessity of ecotoxicity assessments for 〈em〉M. aeruginosa〈/em〉 at environmentally relevant densities.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0269749119306694-fx1.jpg" width="407" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉