The contamination of mycotoxin zearalenone
(ZEN) in foods has been
reported worldwide, resulting in potential risks to food safety. However,
the toxic mechanism of ZEN on neurodegenerative diseases has not been
fully elucidated. Therefore, this study conducted in vivo ZEN neurotoxicity assessment on Parkinson’s disease (PD)-related
dopaminergic neurodegeneration and mitochondrial dysfunction using Caenorhabditis elegans. The results demonstrated
that dopaminergic neuron damage was induced by ZEN exposure (1.25,
10, and 50 μM), and dopaminergic neuron-related behaviors were
adversely affected subsequently. Additionally, the mitochondrial fragmentation
was significantly increased by ZEN exposure. Moreover, upregulated
expression of mitochondrial fission and cell apoptosis-related genes
(drp-1, egl-1, ced-4, and ced-3) revealed the crucial role of DRP-1
on ZEN-induced neurotoxicity, which was further confirmed by drp-1 mutant and RNAi assays. In conclusion, our study indicates
ZEN-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration via DRP-1-involved
mitochondrial fragmentation and apoptosis, which might cause harmful
effects on PD-related symptoms.
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