This study evaluated the risk of single and combined exposure to microplastics in zebrafish (Danio rerio) through biomarkers, such as survival rate, excretion rate, and histological alterations of organ systems. The experimental groups were the control (Cont.), single microplastics exposure group (MPs, 1.83%/fish total weight (g)), the copper group (Cu, 21.6 μg L-1), and a group with combined exposure to MPs and copper (MPs*Cu). The experiment was conducted with individual exposure (7 days) for MP excretion rate analysis and group exposure (14 days) for biomarker analysis. The daily excretion rate of MPs tended to decrease in a time-dependent manner. The copper concentration in the body was not significantly different between single and combined copper exposure. The degeneration of mucous cells in the skin, capillary dilation of the gill lamella, increased intestinal mucous, hepatocyte hypertrophy, and the degeneration of glomeruli and renal tubules were observed in all exposure groups. These histological alterations showed the highest tendency in the MPs*Cu group. In this study, the changes in biomarkers were attributed to the single effect of copper or the combined effect of copper and MPs rather than being solely influenced by MPs.

Norflurazon is widely used on agricultural lands and has a high potential to pollute water sources. However, its effects on fish have not been fully elucidated. The purpose of our study was to determine whether norflurazon adversely affects the developmental stage of zebrafish, which are frequently used as a model system to evaluate the environmental impact of pollutants. Norflurazon interfered with the hatching of zebrafish embryos and induced several sublethal deformities including body length reduction, increased yolk sac volume, and enlargement of the pericardial region. We further examined the cardiotoxicity of norflurazon in the flk1:eGFP transgenic zebrafish line. The vascular network, mainly in the brain region, was significantly disrupted in norflurazon-exposed zebrafish. In addition, due to the failure of cardiac looping, norflurazon-exposed zebrafish had an abnormal cardiac structure. These developmental abnormalities were related to the apoptotic process triggered by norflurazon. Overall, the present study demonstrated the non-target toxicity of norflurazon by analyzing the hazardous effects of norflurazon on developing zebrafish.

The presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment has led to apparent toxicity with different aquatic species. Clarithromycin, for example, is used in treating respiratory tract infections, has been recently found in the surface waters and rivers which might threaten non-targeted organisms in these matrices. In this study, a model vertebrate Danio rerio (zebrafish) was exposed to 100ppb clarithromycin for 72 hours to evaluate acute toxicity through significantly affected metabolic compounds in the fish’s pathway. Metabolites obtained from q-TOF LC/MS were identified and mapped with the zebrafish’s metabolic pathway using Metlin, and KEGG respectively. 335 compounds are believed to have been significantly altered by the acute exposure of the antibiotic with the fish. The most affected pathways are ABC transporters, steroid hormone biosynthesis, arachidonic acid metabolism, purine metabolism, and biosynthesis of amino acids. With the said findings, it can be concluded that, although concentration of some pharmaceuticals may be as low as the one used in this study, its effects on the aquatic species exposed to it might be significant and should be given immediate attention

HSP70 has widely been induced in in vivo hyperthermia conditions in various organisms to study gene regulation and recently neuroprotectve roles of the induced gene expression under varying conditions. We investigated different responses among various tissues in zebrafish under heat shock to evaluate whether spatial and temporal expression pattern of zebrafish (z) hsp70 in transcriptional and translational level under heat shock stress in different brain regions. Heat shock groups were given for 1 h at after recovery by transferring the treated animals back to for 1, 2 and 24 h for recovery, respectively. Control (CTRL) group was kept at . At the end of treatments, five animals were collected and used for isolation of total RNAs and peptides from the corresponding tissues. Expression of zhsp70 mRNA showed different patterns in recovery periods in the tissues including the brain, eye, intestines, muscles, heart and testis by RT-PCR. Unlike the RT-PCR analysis, Northern blot analysis demonstrated nearly 30-fold increase in zhsp70 at 1 h heat shock, suggesting that RT-PCR may not be appropriate in unmasking regulation of the time-dependent zhsp70 expression. In the experiment involving different brain regions, the cerebellum showed gradual activation at 1 h to R1h and decreases in R2h and R24h, while the medulla oblongata and optic tectum showed gradual increase at R1h and decrease at R24h, indicating that different brain tissues respond specifically to heat shock in inducing zhsp70 and recovering from the heat shock status. Western blot analysis also demonstrated that the intracellular levels of zHSP70 in three different brain regions including the cerebellum, medulla oblongata and optic tectum are differently induced and recovered to normal state. These results clearly demonstrate that different regions of the body and the brain tissues are responding differently to heat shock in the aspects of its level of expression and speed of recovery.

제브라피쉬 배아 유래세포의 최적 성장조건을 확립하기 위해 3종류의 배지 DMEM, K-NAC, D-NAC 그룹에서의 세포 성장률을 비교하였다. 실험 결과, 접종밀도에 따른 성장률의 경우, DMEM에 비해 K-NAC 그룹에서 초기 접종 효율이 높게 나타났으며, 후기 성장률은 DMEM 그룹에서 높게 나타났다. K-NAC, DMEM 그룹 모두 FBS 농도에 의한 성장차는 보이지 않았으며, 0.1% embryo extract를 첨가한 배지에서 효과는 낮게 나타

We investigated the relationship between the TiO2 photocatalytic decomposition of bisphenol A in water and biological toxicity to zebrafish (Danio rerio) during 1～28 weeks post development stage. The bisphenol A in water was completely degraded by the TiO2 photocatalysis in 50 hours. After the photocatalysis, no toxic effects on the morphogenesis of the zebrafish were observed during the development, growth, and maturate stages. Catalase activity of control group was not different from 1～5 week post fertilized group. However, toxic effect on the catalase activity of adult stage(28 weeks) decreased 50% than control group.