Size matters: Zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model to study toxicity of nanoplastics from cells to the whole organism

Cellular repair mechanisms triggered by exposure to silver nanoparticles and ionic silver in embryonic zebrafish cells

“…45 Furthermore, ZF4 cells can be maintained under regular cell culture conditions, which includes serum supplemented medium, preservation of the cell line in liquid nitrogen, and continuous growth and culture, features that make this cell line a potential screening tool for NPs toxicity as well as other types of xenobiotics (e.g., microplastics and pharmaceutical compounds). 22,[46][47][48][49] AgNPs are strongly influenced by the surrounding environment. Hence, the interactions between NPs and constituents of the cell medium provide insights about the NPs' behaviour in relevant biological fluids or complex environments.…”

Micro and Nano Plastics Distribution in Fish as Model Organisms: Histopathology, Blood Response and Bioaccumulation in Different Organs

“…In this regard polyethylene (PE) particles 25 nm and 50 nm in sizes were found in cells of the intestinal epithelium in embryos of 0, 24, and 72 hpf [141]. Changes in gut microbiota with disorders of the metabolome and microbiome, as well as changes in the expression of genes correlated with epithelium integrity, were observed in both larval [55] and adult zebrafish [154,165,170]. Upregulation of intestinal Cytochrome P450 gene (cyp1a) was shown by Mak et al [69] in adult zebrafish.…”

“…Zebrafish represents an ideal animal model to study microplastic and nanoplastic toxicity. Due to the transparency of the eggs, embryos and post-hatch larvae, the localization of fluorescent-labelled MPs/NPs particles may be followed to determine the distribution, uptake, trafficking, degradation, and translocation using confocal microscopy [78,165]. On Medline from 2015 to 2021, using key words "microplastics" and "zebrafish", we have n.78 available results, concerning the effects of micro/nanoplastics in different organs and tissues.…”

“…Studies of metabolomics were also carried out to unravel the underlying mechanisms of microplastics toxicity through the study of chemical processes involving all the endogenous and exogenous metabolites of enteric cells that cause oxidative stress and inflammation [166]. The impact of polystyrene (PS) NPs was studied at the cellular, molecular, and systemic levels by Sendra and collegues [165]. It has been demonstrated by the same authors that the absorption of PS NPs takes place by endocytosis and phagocytosis respectively for 50-nm and 1-micron nanoparticles.…”

“…It has been demonstrated by the same authors that the absorption of PS NPs takes place by endocytosis and phagocytosis respectively for 50-nm and 1-micron nanoparticles. Regardless of the pathway of internalization, the particles will be degraded by lysosomes resulting in alkalinization and increased of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that increase their susceptibility to pathogens [165,167]. Oxidative damage and inflammation induced by co-exposure to MPs and cadmium have been studied in zebrafish by Lu et al [11,31] demonstrating that MPs enhanced the toxicity of heavy metals in fish tissues, including the gut.…”