Proteomic Signatures of the Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Embryo: Sensitivity and Specificity in Toxicity Assessment of Chemicals

Abstract

Studies using embryos of the zebrafish Danio rerio (DarT) instead of adult fish for characterising the (eco-) toxic potential of chemicals have been proposed as animal replacing methods. Effect analysis at the molecular level might enhance sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of the embryonal studies. The present paper aimed to test the potential of toxicoproteomics with zebrafish eleutheroembryos for sensitive and specific toxicity assessment. 2-DE-based toxicoproteomics was performed applying low-dose (EC10) exposure for 48 h with three-model substances Rotenone, 4,6-dinitro-o-cresol (DNOC) and Diclofenac. By multivariate “pattern-only” PCA and univariate statistical analyses, alterations in the embryonal proteome were detectable in nonetheless visibly intact organisms and treatment with the three substances was distinguishable at the molecular level. Toxicoproteomics enabled the enhancement of sensitivity and specificity of the embryonal toxicity assay and bear the potency to identify protein markers serving as general stress markers and early diagnosis of toxic stress.

Embryonic atrazine exposure elicits proteomic, behavioral, and brain abnormalities with developmental time specific gene expression signatures

“…Thus, ATZ seems to consistency affect molecular and cellular networks associated with carcinogenesis, protein processing, and cellular signaling. Although only 28 proteins were identified as having significant LFQ values in our study, this is in line with other zebrafish embryo toxicity studies[118] and the total number of detected proteins (1690) in our study is higher than 2DE [118–121] but equivalent to SDS-PAGE[122] gel methods used in other zebrafish embryo studies.…”

Zebrafish as a Model for Toxicological Perturbation of Yolk and Nutrition in the Early Embryo

“…One of the most direct ways that toxicants can influence maternal yolk deposition is via disruption of maternal vitellogenin production [26]. Vitellogenin gene promoters contain Estrogen Response Elements (ERE), transcription factor binding domains for estrogen receptors (alpha and beta) [27].…”

Proteomics Analysis of Early Developmental Stages of Zebrafish Embryos

“…Zebrafish have become a prominent and broadly used model system to study developmental biology, neurogenetic disorders, genetics, toxicology, reproduction, pathology, and pharmacology [1][2][3][4][5]. The genome annotation is relatively well developed [6], and the embryonic transcriptome of zebrafish has been characterized in several studies [7][8][9][10][11].…”