title: Phenylthiourea alters toxicity of mercury compounds in zebrafish larvae.
abstract: In recent years larval stage zebrafish have been emerging as a standard vertebrate model in a number of fields, ranging from developmental biology to pharmacology and toxicology. The tyrosinase inhibitor 1-phenyl-2-thiourea (PTU) is used very widely with larval zebrafish to generate essentially transparent organisms through inhibition of melanogenesis, which has enabled many elegant studies in areas ranging from neurological development to cancer research. Here we show that PTU can have dramatic synergistic and antagonistic effects on the chemical toxicology of different mercury compounds. Our results indicate that extreme caution should be used when employing PTU in toxicological studies, particularly when studying toxic metal ions.
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Environmental Science Research Group, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada; Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B3, Canada; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, Canada.
authors.forename: Tracy C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Environmental Science Research Group, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nehzati
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicole J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Sylvain
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Environmental Science Research Group, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada; Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B3, Canada; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, Canada.
authors.forename: Ashley K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, Canada; Canadian Light Source, 44 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK S7N 2V3, Canada.
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Korbas
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, Canada.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caine
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Environmental Science Research Group, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada; Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B3, Canada; Department of Chemistry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C9, Canada.
authors.forename: Ingrid J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Pickering
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Environmental Science Research Group, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada; Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B3, Canada; Department of Chemistry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C9, Canada. Electronic address: g.george@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Graham N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B3, Canada; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, Canada.
authors.forename: Patrick H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Krone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056831:Coordination Complexes / Q000737:chemistry; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D017669:Mercury Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D010670:Phenylthiourea / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011789:Quantum Theory; D000069436:Toxicological Phenomena / Q000187:drug effects*; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D056831:Coordination Complexes; D017669:Mercury Compounds; D010670:Phenylthiourea
keywords: Density functional theory; Mercury; Metal ion toxicology; Methylmercury; X-ray absorption spectroscopy; X-ray fluorescence imaging; Zebrafish