title: A review of reproductive toxicity of microcystins.
abstract: Animal studies provide strong evidence of positive associations between microcystins (MCs) exposure and reproductive toxicity, representing a threat to human reproductive health and the biodiversity of wild life. This paper reviews current knowledge of the reproductive toxicity of MCs, with regard to mammals, fishes, amphibians, and birds, mostly in males. Toxicity of MCs is primarily governed by the inhibition of protein phosphatases 1 and 2A (PP1 and PP2A) and disturbance of cellular phosphorylation balance. MCs exposure is related to excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress, leading to cytoskeleton disruption, mitochondria dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and DNA damage. MCs induce cell apoptosis mediated by the mitochondrial and ROS and ER pathways. Through PP1/2A inhibition and oxidative stress, MCs lead to differential expression/activity of transcriptional factors and proteins involved in the pathways of cellular differentiation, proliferation, and tumor promotion. MC-induced DNA damage is also involved in carcinogenicity. Apart from a direct effect on testes and ovaries, MCs indirectly affect sex hormones by damaging the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis and liver. Parental exposure to MCs may result in hepatotoxicity and neurotoxicity of offspring. We also summarize the current research gaps which should be addressed by further studies.
authors.affiliation: Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: chan91@yeah.net.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China. Electronic address: chenjun@ihb.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agricultural University, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: xuezhen@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xuezhen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China. Electronic address: xieping@ihb.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D052998:Microcystins / Q000633:toxicity*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D052998:Microcystins
keywords: Apoptosis; Microcystin; Oxidative stress; Reproductive toxicity; Tumor