PUBLICATION

Effects of heat and cadmium exposure on stress-related responses in the liver of female zebrafish: Heat increases cadmium toxicity

Authors
Guo, S.N., Zheng, J.L., Yuan, S.S., Zhu, Q.L.
ID
ZDB-PUB-171019-13
Date
2017
Source
The Science of the total environment   618: 1363-1370 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
Cadmium exposure, DNA methylation, Fish, Gene transcription, Warming
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Antioxidants/metabolism
  • Cadmium/toxicity*
  • Cation Transport Proteins/metabolism
  • Female
  • HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/metabolism
  • Hot Temperature*
  • Interleukin-1beta
  • Lipid Peroxidation/drug effects
  • Liver/metabolism
  • Metallothionein/metabolism
  • Stress, Physiological/physiology*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical/toxicity*
  • Zebrafish/physiology*
PubMed
29042086 Full text @ Sci. Total Environ.
Abstract
In this study, female zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to 26°C or 34°C, 0 or 197μg/L cadmium (Cd), singly or in combination for 7days. Multiple stress-related indicators were evaluated in the liver. Mortality, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and ultrastructural damage increased significantly by Cd exposure alone, and were not affected by heat alone. Interestingly, the combined exposure increased LPO, ultrastructural damage, and mortality compared with Cd exposure alone. The results indicated that elevated temperature increased Cd toxicity, which could be explained by several reasons. Firstly, Cd-exposed fish failed to activate the antioxidant defense system under heat stress. Secondly, expression levels of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) were not significantly up-regulated by heat in Cd-exposed fish but increased by 117 times in Cd-free fish. Besides, hypermethylation of heat shock factor (HSF) binding motif in HSP70 promoter was observed during the combined exposure, indicating that simultaneous exposure may have partially suppressed the cytoprotective up-regulation of HSP70. Thirdly, heat induced an immunosuppressive effect in Cd-exposed fish, as reflected by the reduced mRNA and activity levels of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) expression levels. Finally, heat down-regulated Zir-, Irt-like protein 8 (ZIP8) and copper transporter 1 (CTR1) and up-regulated metallothioneins (MTs) in Cd-exposed fish, possibly suggesting Cu and Zn depletion and Cd accumulation. Hence, our data provide evidences that warmer temperatures can potentiate Cd toxicity, involved in the regulation of gene transcription, enzymatic activity, and DNA methylation. We found that heat indicators showed varied sensitivity between normal and Cd-exposed fish, emphasizing that the field metal pollution should be carefully considered when evaluating effects of climate change.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping