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Takemura Mariano MV, Paganotto Leandro L, Gomes KK, Dos Santos AB, de Rosso VO, Dafre AL, Farina M, Posser T, Franco JL. Assessing the disparity: comparative toxicity of Copper in zebrafish larvae exposes alarming consequences of permissible concentrations in Brazil. JOURNAL OF TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. PART A 2024; 87:166-184. [PMID: 38073470 DOI: 10.1080/15287394.2023.2290630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
Copper (Cu) is a naturally occurring metal with essential micronutrient properties. However, this metal might also pose increased adverse environmental and health risks due to industrial and agricultural activities. In Brazil, the maximum allowable concentration of Cu in drinking water is 2 mg/L. Despite this standard, the impact of such concentrations on aquatic organisms remains unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the toxicity of CuSO4 using larval zebrafish at environmentally relevant concentrations. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae at 72 hr post-fertilization (hpf) were exposed to nominal CuSO4 concentrations ranging from 0.16 to 48 mg/L to determine the median lethal concentration (LC50), established at 8.4 mg/L. Subsequently, non-lethal concentrations of 0.16, 0.32, or 1.6 mg/L were selected for assessing CuSO4 -induced toxicity. Morphological parameters, including body length, yolk sac area, and swim bladder area, were adversely affected by CuSO4 exposure, particularly at 1.6 mg/L (3.31 mm ±0.1, 0.192 mm2 ±0.01, and 0.01 mm2 ±0.05, respectively). In contrast, the control group exhibited values of 3.62 mm ±0.09, 0.136 mm2 ±0.013, and 0.3 mm2 ±0.06, respectively. Behavioral assays demonstrated impairments in escape response and swimming capacity, accompanied by increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation. In addition, decreased levels of non-protein thiols and reduced cellular viability were noted. Data demonstrated that exposure to CuSO4 at similar concentrations as those permitted in Brazil for Cu adversely altered morphological, biochemical, and behavioral endpoints in zebrafish larvae. This study suggests that the permissible Cu concentrations in Brazil need to be reevaluated, given the potential enhanced adverse health risks of exposure to environmental metal contamination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Vitória Takemura Mariano
- Oxidative Stress and Cell Signaling Research Group. Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research - CIPBIOTEC, Federal University of Pampa, São Gabriel, Brazil
| | - Luana Paganotto Leandro
- Oxidative Stress and Cell Signaling Research Group. Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research - CIPBIOTEC, Federal University of Pampa, São Gabriel, Brazil
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil
| | - Karen Kich Gomes
- Oxidative Stress and Cell Signaling Research Group. Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research - CIPBIOTEC, Federal University of Pampa, São Gabriel, Brazil
| | - Ana Beatriz Dos Santos
- Oxidative Stress and Cell Signaling Research Group. Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research - CIPBIOTEC, Federal University of Pampa, São Gabriel, Brazil
| | - Vitor Oliveira de Rosso
- Oxidative Stress and Cell Signaling Research Group. Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research - CIPBIOTEC, Federal University of Pampa, São Gabriel, Brazil
| | - Alcir Luiz Dafre
- Department of Biochemistry, Center for Biological Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Marcelo Farina
- Department of Biochemistry, Center for Biological Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Thaís Posser
- Oxidative Stress and Cell Signaling Research Group. Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research - CIPBIOTEC, Federal University of Pampa, São Gabriel, Brazil
| | - Jeferson Luis Franco
- Oxidative Stress and Cell Signaling Research Group. Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research - CIPBIOTEC, Federal University of Pampa, São Gabriel, Brazil
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Ahmad I, Pal S, Singh R, Ahmad K, Dey N, Srivastava A, Ahmad R, Suliman M, Alshahrani MY, Barkat MA, Siddiqui S. Antimicrobial peptide moricin induces ROS mediated caspase-dependent apoptosis in human triple-negative breast cancer via suppression of notch pathway. Cancer Cell Int 2023; 23:121. [PMID: 37344820 DOI: 10.1186/s12935-023-02958-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Breast cancer is the world's most prevalent cancer among women. Microorganisms have been the richest source of antibiotics as well as anticancer drugs. Moricin peptides have shown antibacterial properties; however, the anticancer potential and mechanistic insights into moricin peptide-induced cancer cell death have not yet been explored. METHODS An investigation through in silico analysis, analytical methods (Reverse Phase-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC), mass spectroscopy (MS), circular dichroism (CD), and in vitro studies, has been carried out to delineate the mechanism(s) of moricin-induced cancer cell death. An in-silico analysis was performed to predict the anticancer potential of moricin in cancer cells using Anti CP and ACP servers based on a support vector machine (SVM). Molecular docking was performed to predict the binding interaction between moricin and peptide-related cancer signaling pathway(s) through the HawkDOCK web server. Further, in vitro anticancer activity of moricin was performed against MDA-MB-231 cells. RESULTS In silico observation revealed that moricin is a potential anticancer peptide, and protein-protein docking showed a strong binding interaction between moricin and signaling proteins. CD showed a predominant helical structure of moricin, and the MS result determined the observed molecular weight of moricin is 4544 Da. An in vitro study showed that moricin exposure to MDA-MB-231 cells caused dose dependent inhibition of cell viability with a high generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Molecular study revealed that moricin exposure caused downregulation in the expression of Notch-1, NF-ƙB and Bcl2 proteins while upregulating p53, Bax, caspase 3, and caspase 9, which results in caspase-dependent cell death in MDA-MB-231 cells. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, this study reveals the anticancer potential and underlying mechanism of moricin peptide-induced cell death in triple negative cancer cells, which could be used in the development of an anticancer drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- Imran Ahmad
- Department of Biochemistry, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, 226003, India.
| | - Saurabh Pal
- Department of Biotechnology, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, 226003, India
| | - Ranjana Singh
- Department of Biochemistry, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, 226003, India.
| | - Khursheed Ahmad
- Department of Biotechnology, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, 226003, India
| | - Nilanjan Dey
- Department of Chemistry, BITS- Pilani Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, 500078, Telangana, India
| | - Aditi Srivastava
- Department of Biochemistry, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, 226003, India
| | - Rumana Ahmad
- Department of Biochemistry, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, 226003, India
| | - Muath Suliman
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammad Y Alshahrani
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia
| | - Md Abul Barkat
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Hafr Al-Batin, Al Jamiah, Hafr Al Batin, 39524, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sahabjada Siddiqui
- Department of Biotechnology, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, 226003, India.
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