Cell death, stress-responsive transgene activation, and deficits in the olfactory system of larval zebrafish following cadmium exposure.
Cadmium (Cd) is a well-described environmental pollutant known to have adverse effects in fish, including behavioral deficits. We have previously reported the development of an in vivo system that utilizes hsp70 gene activation as a measure of acute 3 h cadmium toxicity in whole living transgenic zebrafish larvae carrying a stably integrated hsp70-enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) reporter gene. Here, we report that activation of this transgene in olfactory epithelium of zebrafish larvae during 96 h sublethal Cd exposure is predictive of cadmium-induced cell death, altered histological and surface organization of the epithelium, and changes in olfactory dependent behavior. The transgene is first activated in the olfactory epithelium at concentrations below those giving rise to significant defects, but exhibits a more robust response following exposure to Cd at concentrations that begin to cause significant cell death, morphological alterations, and behavioral deficits. Further, the data show that Cd-induced olfactory deficits reported previously in juvenile and adult fish can also occur during larval stages of fish development, and that such behavioral deficits are closely associated with cell death and structural alterations in the olfactory epithelium.
Matz
Carlyn J
CJ
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Toxicology Group, University of Saskatchewan, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5E5.
Krone
Patrick H
PH
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002104:Cadmium / Q000633:toxicity*; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000187:drug effects*; D019076:Transgenes; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D015027:Zebrafish
D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D002104:Cadmium; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins