Polychlorinated environmental toxicants affect sphingolipid metabolism during neurogenesis in vitro

The application of human-derived cell lines in neurotoxicity studies of environmental pollutants

As industrial and societal advancements progress, an increasing number of environmental pollutants linked to human existence have been substantiated to elicit neurotoxicity and developmental neural toxicity. For research in this field, human-derived neural cell lines have become excellent in vitro models. This study examines the utilization of immortalized cell lines, specifically the SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cell line, and neural cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells, in the investigation of neurotoxicity and developmental neural toxicity caused by environmental pollutants. The study also explores the culturing techniques employed for these cell lines and provides an overview of the standardized assays used to assess various biological endpoints. The environmental pollutants involved include a variety of organic compounds, heavy metals, and microplastics. The utilization of cell lines derived from human sources holds significant significance in elucidating the neurotoxic effects of environmental pollutants and the underlying mechanisms. Finally, we propose the possibility of improving the in vitro model of the human nervous system and the toxicity detection methods.

Scopoletin Induced Metabolomic Profile Disturbances in Zebrafish Embryos

Scopoletin, a typical example of a coumarin compound, exists in several Artemisia species and other plant genera. However, the systemic metabolic effects induced by scopoletin remain unclear. In the present study, we evaluated the metabolic profiles in scopoletin-exposed zebrafish embryos using UHPLC-Q-Obitrap-HRMS combined with multivariate analysis. Compared with the control group, 33 metabolites in scopoletin group were significantly upregulated, while 27 metabolites were significantly downregulated. Importantly, scopoletin exposure affected metabolites mainly involved in phosphonate and phosphinate metabolism, vitamin B6 metabolism, histidine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and folate biosynthesis. These results suggested that scopoletin exposure to zebrafish embryos exhibited marked metabolic disturbance. This study provides a perspective of metabolic impacts and the underlying mechanism associated with scopoletin exposure.