Prolonged exposure to carbon nanoparticles induced methylome remodeling and gene expression in zebrafish heart

Abstract

Growing black carbon (BC) emission has become one of the major urgent environmental issues facing human beings. Usually, BC or BC‐containing carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) were recognized as non‐directly toxic components of atmospheric particulate matter. However, epidemiology studies have provided much evidence of the associations of exposure of particulate‐containing carbon particles with cardiovascular diseases. There are still no related studies to support the epidemiological conclusions. Hence, in this article we exposed adult zebrafish to CNPs for 60 days, and then explored the heart location and potential adverse effects on cardiac tissues of these nanosized carbon particles. Our results first showed direct visualization of cardiac endothelial uptake and heart deposition of CNPs in zebrafish. In addition, CNPs caused significant ultrastructural alterations in myocardial tissue and induced the expression of inflammatory cytokines in a dose‐dependent manner, resulting in sub‐endocardial inflammation and cell apoptosis. Moreover, our data demonstrated the perturbations caused by CNPs on DNA methylation, suggesting that DNA methylome remodeling might play a critical role in CNP‐induced cardiotoxicity in zebrafish heart. Therefore, this study not only proved a laboratory link between CNP exposure and cardiotoxicity in vivo, but also indicated a possible toxicity mechanism involved.

Interactions of particulate matter and pulmonary surfactant: Implications for human health

“…PM 2.5 was only reported to cause oxidative damage to DNA in humans [ 237 ]. However, a recent study that exposing zebra to carbon nanoparticles showed a disturbance on DNA methylation of the genes in heart tissue, revealing the unregulated gene expression caused by PM [ 248 ].…”

Sex-Specific Programming of Cardiac DNA Methylation by Developmental Phthalate Exposure

“…27 Indeed, it is increasingly clear that disruption of normal DNAm patterning during early cardiovascular development may have long-term, adverse health consequences. 28,29 Recent studies demonstrate that DNAm in the heart is altered in disease states, 28,29 after obesogenic diet exposure, 28 and with toxicant exposures, 30,31 suggesting that this modification may play a key role in CVD pathogenesis. Despite this, the effects of early-life phthalate exposure on cardiac DNAm have not been investigated.…”

Nanosafety: An Evolving Concept to Bring the Safest Possible Nanomaterials to Society and Environment

“…Like nanogenotoxicity, the assessment of the epigenetic toxicity of nanomaterials is mostly based on in vitro followed by in vivo (mice or rats) models ( Figure 6 ). Besides these models, DNA methylation studies were also reported in ecotoxicology model species (such as white worms [ 144 ] and zebrafish [ 145 , 146 ]), while histone modification [ 147 ] and ncRNA (lncRNA and miRNA) were mainly reported in nanomaterial-exposed roundworms ( C. elegans ) ( Figure 6 ). In the epigenetic study design, one must consider the development of a long-term impact with multigenerational or transgenerational effects, preferably with alternative in vivo models (e.g., zebrafish, drosophila, and C. elegans ) [ 147 ] to reduce animal use.…”