PUBLICATION

Ferroptosis contributes to nickel-induced developmental neurotoxicity in zebrafish

Authors
Wang, Z., Li, K., Xu, Y., Song, Z., Lan, X., Pan, C., Zhang, S., Foulkes, N.S., Zhao, H.
ID
ZDB-PUB-221115-65
Date
2022
Source
The Science of the total environment   858(Pt 3): 160078 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Foulkes, Nicholas-Simon
Keywords
Deferoxamine, Heavy metal, In vivo two-photon imaging, Neurobehavioral test, Neurotoxic effects, RNA-sequencing
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Ecology
  • Iron
  • Nickel*/toxicity
  • Zebrafish*
PubMed
36372175 Full text @ Sci. Total Environ.
Abstract
Nickel (Ni) is a widely utilized heavy metal that can cause environmental pollution and health hazards. Its safety has attracted the attention of both the environmental ecology and public health fields. While the central nervous system (CNS) is one of the main targets of Ni, its neurotoxicity and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, by taking advantage of the zebrafish model for live imaging, genetic analysis and neurobehavioral studies, we reveal that the neurotoxic effects induced by exposure to environmentally relevant levels of Ni are closely related to ferroptosis, a newly-described form of iron-mediated cell death. In vivo two-photon imaging, neurobehavioral analysis and transcriptome sequencing consistently demonstrate that early neurodevelopment, neuroimmune function and vasculogenesis in zebrafish larvae are significantly affected by environmental Ni exposure. Importantly, exposure to various concentrations of Ni activates the ferroptosis pathway, as demonstrated by physiological/biochemical tests, as well as the expression of ferroptosis markers. Furthermore, pharmacological intervention of ferroptosis via deferoxamine (DFO), a classical iron chelating agent, strongly implicates iron dyshomeostasis and ferroptosis in these Ni-induced neurotoxic effects. Thus, this study elucidates the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying Ni neurotoxicity, with implications for our understanding of the physiologically damaging effects of other environmental heavy metal pollutants.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping