PUBLICATION

Effects of Two Sublethal Concentrations of Mercury Chloride on the Morphology and Metallothionein Activity in the Liver of Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Authors
Macirella, R., Guardia, A., Pellegrino, D., Bernabò, I., Tronci, V., Ebbesson, L.O., Sesti, S., Tripepi, S., Brunelli, E.
ID
ZDB-PUB-160316-2
Date
2016
Source
International Journal of Molecular Sciences   17(3): 361 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
acute effects, confocal microscopy, histology, in situ hybridization, inorganic mercury, liver, metallothionein, ultrastructure
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress
  • Glycogen/metabolism
  • Lipid Droplets/metabolism
  • Liver/drug effects*
  • Liver/metabolism
  • Liver/ultrastructure
  • Mercuric Chloride/administration & dosage
  • Mercuric Chloride/toxicity*
  • Metallothionein/genetics
  • Metallothionein/metabolism*
  • Mitochondria/drug effects
  • Mitochondria/ultrastructure
  • Zebrafish/anatomy & histology*
  • Zebrafish/metabolism
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
PubMed
26978352 Full text @ Int. J. Mol. Sci.
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is a highly hazardous pollutant widely used in industrial, pharmaceutical and agricultural fields. Mercury is found in the environment in several forms, elemental, inorganic (iHg) and organic, all of which are toxic. Considering that the liver is the organ primarily involved in the regulation of metabolic pathways, homeostasis and detoxification we investigated the morphological and ultrastructural effects in Danio rerio liver after 96 h exposure to two low HgCl₂ concentrations (7.7 and 38.5 μg/L). We showed that a short-term exposure to very low concentrations of iHg severely affects liver morphology and ultrastructure. The main effects recorded in this work were: cytoplasm vacuolization, decrease in both lipid droplets and glycogen granules, increase in number of mitochondria, increase of rough endoplasmic reticulum and pyknotic nuclei. Pathological alterations observed were dose dependent. Trough immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and real-time PCR analysis, the induction of metallothionein (MT) under stressor conditions was also evaluated. Some of observed alterations could be considered as a general response of tissue to heavy metals, whereas others (such as increased number of mitochondria and increase of RER) may be considered as an adaptive response to mercury.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping