PUBLICATION

Toxicity of spike fragments SARS-CoV-2 S protein for zebrafish: A tool to study its hazardous for human health?

Authors
Ventura Fernandes, B.H., Feitosa, N.M., Barbosa, A.P., Bomfim, C.G., Garnique, A.M.B., Rosa, I.F., Rodrigues, M.S., Doretto, L.B., Costa, D.F., Santos, B.C., Franco, G.A., Neto, J.F., Lunardi, J.S., Bellot, M.S., Alves, N.P.C., Costa, C.C., Aracati, M.F., Rodrigues, L.F., Costa, C.C., Cirilo, R.H., Colagrande, R.M., Gomes, F.I.F., Nakajima, R.T., Belo, M.A.A., Giaquinto, P.C., de Oliveira, S.L., Eto, S.F., Fernandes, D.C., Manrique, W.G., Conde, G., Rosales, R.R.C., Todeschini, I., Rivero, I., Llontop, E., Sgro, G.G., Oka, G.U., Bueno, N.F., Ferraris, F.K., de Magalhães, M.T.Q., Medeiros, R.J., Gomes, J.M.M., Junqueira, M.S., Conceição, K., Pontes, L.G., Neto, A.C., Perez, A.C., Barcellos, L.G., Júnior, J.D.C., Dorlass, E.G., Camara, N.O.S., Durigon, E.L., Cunha, F.Q., Nóbrega, R.H., Machado-Santelli, G.M., Farah, C.S., Veras, F.P., Galindo-Villegas, J., Costa-Lotufo, L.V., Cunha, T.M., Chammas, R., Carvalho, L.R., Guzzo, C.R., Malafaia, G., Charlie-Silva, I.
ID
ZDB-PUB-211224-29
Date
2021
Source
The Science of the total environment   813: 152345 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Galindo-Villegas, Jorge
Keywords
Acute respiratory syndrome, Coronavirus, Danio rerio, Environmental impacts, Infection diseases
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • COVID-19*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus*
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
34942250 Full text @ Sci. Total Environ.
Citation
Ventura Fernandes, B.H., Feitosa, N.M., Barbosa, A.P., Bomfim, C.G., Garnique, A.M.B., Rosa, I.F., Rodrigues, M.S., Doretto, L.B., Costa, D.F., Santos, B.C., Franco, G.A., Neto, J.F., Lunardi, J.S., Bellot, M.S., Alves, N.P.C., Costa, C.C., Aracati, M.F., Rodrigues, L.F., Costa, C.C., Cirilo, R.H., Colagrande, R.M., Gomes, F.I.F., Nakajima, R.T., Belo, M.A.A., Giaquinto, P.C., de Oliveira, S.L., Eto, S.F., Fernandes, D.C., Manrique, W.G., Conde, G., Rosales, R.R.C., Todeschini, I., Rivero, I., Llontop, E., Sgro, G.G., Oka, G.U., Bueno, N.F., Ferraris, F.K., de Magalhães, M.T.Q., Medeiros, R.J., Gomes, J.M.M., Junqueira, M.S., Conceição, K., Pontes, L.G., Neto, A.C., Perez, A.C., Barcellos, L.G., Júnior, J.D.C., Dorlass, E.G., Camara, N.O.S., Durigon, E.L., Cunha, F.Q., Nóbrega, R.H., Machado-Santelli, G.M., Farah, C.S., Veras, F.P., Galindo-Villegas, J., Costa-Lotufo, L.V., Cunha, T.M., Chammas, R., Carvalho, L.R., Guzzo, C.R., Malafaia, G., Charlie-Silva, I. (2021) Toxicity of spike fragments SARS-CoV-2 S protein for zebrafish: A tool to study its hazardous for human health?. The Science of the total environment. 813:152345.
Abstract
Despite the significant increase in the generation of SARS-CoV-2 contaminated domestic and hospital wastewater, little is known about the ecotoxicological effects of the virus or its structural components in freshwater vertebrates. In this context, this study evaluated the deleterious effects caused by SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein on the health of Danio rerio, zebrafish. We demonstrated, for the first time, that zebrafish injected with fragment 16 to 165 (rSpike), which corresponds to the N-terminal portion of the protein, presented mortalities and adverse effects on liver, kidney, ovary and brain tissues. The conserved genetic homology between zebrafish and humans might be one of the reasons for the intense toxic effects followed inflammatory reaction from the immune system of zebrafish to rSpike which provoked damage to organs in a similar pattern as happen in severe cases of COVID-19 in humans, and, resulted in 78,6% of survival rate in female adults during the first seven days. The application of spike protein in zebrafish was highly toxic that is suitable for future studies to gather valuable information about ecotoxicological impacts, as well as vaccine responses and therapeutic approaches in human medicine. Therefore, besides representing an important tool to assess the harmful effects of SARS-CoV-2 in the aquatic environment, we present the zebrafish as an animal model for translational COVID-19 research.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping
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