Toxicity assessment and bioaccumulation in zebrafish embryos exposed to carbon nanotubes suspended in Pluronic® F-108

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are often suspended in Pluronic® surfactants by sonication, which may confound toxicity studies because sonication of surfactants can create degradation products that are toxic to mammalian cells. Here, we present a toxicity assessment of Pluronic® F-108 with and without suspended CNTs using embryonic zebrafish as an in vivo model. Pluronic® sonolytic degradation products were toxic to zebrafish embryos just as they were to mammalian cells. When the toxic Pluronic® fragments were removed, there was little effect of pristine multi-walled CNTs (pMWNTs), carboxylated MWNTs (cMWNTs) or pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes (pSWNTs) on embryo viability and development, even at high concentrations. A gel electrophoretic method coupled with Raman imaging was developed to measure the bioaccumulation of CNTs by zebrafish embryos, and dose-dependent uptake of CNTs was observed. These data indicate that embryos accumulate pMWNTs, cMWNTs and pSWNTs yet there is very little embryo toxicity.

Zebrafish as a Model to Evaluate Nanoparticle Toxicity

“…Pristine CNTs have been shown to have high biocompatibility, with single-walled (SW), multi-walled (MW) CNTs or carboxylated MW pristine CNTs having little effect on embryo viability and development, even at high concentrations (200 ug/mL) [ 137 ]. In another study SW CNTs functionalized by polyethylene glycol increased mortality, delayed hatching and decreased total larval length only at the highest concentration tested (1 ppm), but with no genotoxicity observed and no evidence of the nanotubes being taken up by tissues [ 138 ].…”

Counter ions and constituents combination affect DODAX : MO nanocarriers toxicity in vitro and in vivo

“…Zebrafish Danio rerio Hamilton 1822 is a small vertebrate (Pisces: Teleostei) model that requires less expensive husbandry and accommodation than do mammals, commonly used for toxicity evaluation. [19][20][21][22] We have previously observed that liposomes and siRNAlipoplexes composed of dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide or chloride (DODAB/DODAC) : monoolein (MO) induce dissimilar in vitro responses. 16 Moreover, zebrafish biology has other advantageous characteristics: (i) females have the capability to lay around 200-300 eggs per day every 5-7 days; (ii) equals the longevity and generation time of mice (3-5 months); and (iii) transparent embryos develop promptly into larvae, ex-utero, within 120 hours postfertilization (hpf ) 17,18 allowing in vivo real-time imaging of ongoing processes and significant reduction of experiment duration.…”

Zebrafish as a Model Organism to Study Nanomaterial Toxicity

“…This high reproductive ability and fertility along with simple maintenance procedures contributes to the positive attributes of zebrafish for use in nanotoxicological analysis. The toxicity of almost all types of nanoparticles including metal [106], metal oxide [107], carbon [108], polymer nanoparticles [109], nanocomposites [110], zero-dimensional [58], one-dimensional [111], two-dimensional [112] and three-dimensional nanoparticles [113] have been evaluated directly using zebrafish with promising results as shown in Table 1. Zebrafish are also used to evaluate the genotoxicity of nanoparticles, as it is easy to analyze the genome of zebrafish compared to larger animals [114].…”