Maternal polystyrene nanoplastics suppress zebrafish offspring development and locomotion through mitochondrial...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Toxicology
• Aquatic Ecotoxicology
• Nanotoxicology

Background:

• Plastic pollution, particularly nanoplastics, is a pervasive threat to aquatic ecosystems.
• Maternal transfer of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) is known to affect offspring development.
• The molecular mechanisms underlying these transgenerational effects are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the mechanisms by which maternal PS-NPs exposure disrupts embryonic development and locomotion in zebrafish offspring.
• To investigate the specific role of mitochondrial dysfunction in these transgenerational effects.
• To assess the impact of environmentally relevant concentrations of PS-NPs.

Main Methods:

• Maternal exposure of zebrafish to europium-chelated PS-NPs (50 nm PS-Eu) at concentrations of 1-100 μg/L for 120 days.
• Assessment of offspring developmental (head area, body length, malformations) and behavioral (locomotion) endpoints.
• Analysis of mitochondrial respiration, transcriptomics (focusing on oxidative phosphorylation), and protein-protein interaction networks.

Main Results:

• Maternal PS-Eu exposure significantly reduced offspring head area and body length, and increased malformations at 10 and 100 μg/L.
• Offspring locomotion was markedly inhibited following maternal exposure to 10 and 100 μg/L PS-Eu.
• Maternal exposure to 100 μg/L PS-Eu suppressed offspring mitochondrial respiration and downregulated key oxidative phosphorylation genes, identified as hub genes (e.g., atp5po, uqcrq).

Conclusions:

• Maternal PS-NPs exposure inhibits embryonic development and locomotion in zebrafish offspring by disrupting mitochondrial energy metabolism.
• Suppression of oxidative phosphorylation pathways is a key molecular mechanism driving these transgenerational toxic effects.
• This study provides critical mechanistic insights into nanoplastic toxicity, informing environmental risk assessments for aquatic species.