title: The freshwater cyanobacterium Lyngbya aerugineo-coerulea produces compounds toxic to mice and to mammalian and fish cells.
abstract: Despite a growing awareness of the presence of cyanobacterial toxins, knowledge about the ability of specific species to produce toxic compounds is still rather limited. It was the overall goal of the current work to investigate if probes derived from the freshwater species Lyngbya aerugineo-coerulea (Kutz.) Gomont, a cyanobacterium frequently found in southern Europe and not previously investigated for the presence of bioactive compounds, were capable of eliciting in vivo and in vitro toxicity. The cyanobacterial extract revealed signs of neuro- as well as hepatotoxicity in mice, although these signs could not be explained by the well-known respective cyanobacterial neuro- and hepatotoxins saxitoxin and microcystin. Cytotoxicity was elicited by the cyanobacterial extract in all mammalian cell lines tested. As well, the rainbow trout liver cell line, RTL-W1, was found to be susceptible to the cytotoxic effects of the extract, although the cytotoxicity was dependent on temperature. In contrast, the cyanobacterial growth medium elicited cytotoxicity independent of temperature, leading to morphological changes indicative of alterations to the cytoskeleton. Overall, the results suggest that Lyngbya aerugineo-coerulea is an important cyanobacterium to be considered for its potential to cause health risks on environmental exposure of it to mammals and fish. Applying a combination of mammalian and piscine cell line bioassays is a unique approach that, combined with chemical analysis, could be used in the future to identify the structure and cellular mechanisms of the as-yet-unknown toxic Lyngbya aerugineo-coerulea metabolites in particular and to screen cyanobacterial extracts for their toxicity in general.
authors.affiliation: Junior Research Group, Molecular Animal Cell Toxicology, UFZ Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Ivanka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Teneva
authors.forename: Dafinka
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Asparuhova
authors.forename: Balik
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dzhambazov
authors.forename: Rumen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mladenov
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schirmer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000737:chemistry*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000473:pathology; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005399:Fishes; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008235:Lyngbya Toxins / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008322:Mammals; D051379:Mice; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D008235:Lyngbya Toxins