title: Early developmental toxicity of saxitoxin on medaka (Oryzias melastigma) embryos.
abstract: Saxitoxin (STX) is the most potent paralytic shellfish poisoning toxin in crustaceans and molluscs, and is known to cause intoxication to humans and marine animals due to its neurotoxicity. However, the extent of its early developmental toxicity to marine species remains unknown. In this study, we examined the early developmental toxicity of STX using marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) embryos as model. The medaka embryos were exposed to STX for four days, from the early blastula stage onwards, and this exposure period covered the main developmental stage of the central nervous system and somites. After exposure, the treated medaka eleutheroembryos at 15 day post fertilization exhibited abnormal growth with longer body length and relatively smaller yolk sac size. High cell proliferation, neuron development, and metabolism were confirmed using whole-mount immunostaining and two-dimensional electrophoresis. In summary, STX disturbed the normal growth of medaka embryos probably by affecting the metabolic rate in the exposed medaka embryos.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, 999077, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region; State Key Laboratory in Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 200062 Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jinping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Vitargent (International) Biotechnology Limited, Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Xueping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Shuk Han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Yim Ling
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Mak
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Paul Kwan Sing
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: leochan@cityu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Leo Lai
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, 999077, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: mfwang@hku.hk.
authors.forename: Mingfu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000187:drug effects*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects*; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D009990:Oryzias; D012530:Saxitoxin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D004965:Estrogen Antagonists; D012530:Saxitoxin
keywords: Developmental toxicity; Endocrine disruptor; Paralytic shellfish poisoning; Proteomics; Saxitoxin