Metabolomic Profiling Unveils the Impact of Non-Doped and Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanodots on Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Embryos

Recently, concern has been raised over the transport, transformation, and fate of carbon nanodots (CNDs) after their release into the environment. Their toxicity towards organisms and humans has recently been addressed as an important issue. In this study, a metabolomic approach was employed to obta...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Theodoros G. Chatzimitakos, Claire Pliatsika, Ieremias Chousidis, Ioannis D. Leonardos, Constantine D. Stalikas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
Series:Nanomaterials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/2/483
_version_ 1827589213668769792
author Theodoros G. Chatzimitakos
Claire Pliatsika
Ieremias Chousidis
Ioannis D. Leonardos
Constantine D. Stalikas
author_facet Theodoros G. Chatzimitakos
Claire Pliatsika
Ieremias Chousidis
Ioannis D. Leonardos
Constantine D. Stalikas
author_sort Theodoros G. Chatzimitakos
collection DOAJ
description Recently, concern has been raised over the transport, transformation, and fate of carbon nanodots (CNDs) after their release into the environment. Their toxicity towards organisms and humans has recently been addressed as an important issue. In this study, a metabolomic approach was employed to obtain an insight into the effect of CNDs (either pristine or doped with nitrogen and nitrogen/sulfur) on zebrafish. Embryos were exposed to concentrations corresponding to lethal concentration (LC) LC<sub>50</sub> (550, 400, and 150 μg mL<sup>−1</sup>), LC<sub>50/2</sub> (275, 200, and 75 μg mL<sup>−1</sup>), and LC<sub>50/4</sub> (138, 100, and 38 μg mL<sup>−1</sup>) of the three CNDs (non-doped, N-doped, and N,S-codoped, respectively) to scrutinize the interactions of the CNDs with the larvae. Numerous differences in the metabolic pathways were recorded in all cases. Seven metabolic pathways were detected in the control larvae. When the larvae were exposed to concentrations equal to LC<sub>50</sub>, LC<sub>50/2</sub>, and LC<sub>50/4</sub> of non-doped CNDs, 12, 12, and 3 metabolic pathways were detected, respectively. In the case of N-doped CNDs, 4, 7, and 4 pathways were detected, while in the case of N,S-codoped CNDs, 8, 5, and 5 pathways were detected when exposed to concentrations of LC<sub>50</sub>, LC<sub>50/2</sub>, and LC<sub>50/4</sub>, respectively. In all cases, certain metabolic pathways were altered while others were either down-regulated or up-regulated. Some of these changes include the activation of alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, butanoate metabolism, D-glutamine, and D-glutamate metabolism, glutathione metabolism, selenoamino acid metabolism, valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation pathways. Moreover, the deactivation of starch and sucrose metabolism, the glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism, among others, were recorded. Our findings underline the importance to further study the impact of CNDs on marine organisms. As zebrafish has been shown to share many similarities with humans in bioprocesses and genome, it can be assumed that CNDs may also pose a threat to human health.
first_indexed 2024-03-09T00:53:26Z
format Article
id doaj.art-4fcaf2b2428343c6bb7f070c0ce15bad
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2079-4991
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-09T00:53:26Z
publishDate 2021-02-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Nanomaterials
spelling doaj.art-4fcaf2b2428343c6bb7f070c0ce15bad2023-12-11T17:03:57ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912021-02-0111248310.3390/nano11020483Metabolomic Profiling Unveils the Impact of Non-Doped and Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanodots on Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) EmbryosTheodoros G. Chatzimitakos0Claire Pliatsika1Ieremias Chousidis2Ioannis D. Leonardos3Constantine D. Stalikas4Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Zoology, Department of Biological Applications and Technologies, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Zoology, Department of Biological Applications and Technologies, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceRecently, concern has been raised over the transport, transformation, and fate of carbon nanodots (CNDs) after their release into the environment. Their toxicity towards organisms and humans has recently been addressed as an important issue. In this study, a metabolomic approach was employed to obtain an insight into the effect of CNDs (either pristine or doped with nitrogen and nitrogen/sulfur) on zebrafish. Embryos were exposed to concentrations corresponding to lethal concentration (LC) LC<sub>50</sub> (550, 400, and 150 μg mL<sup>−1</sup>), LC<sub>50/2</sub> (275, 200, and 75 μg mL<sup>−1</sup>), and LC<sub>50/4</sub> (138, 100, and 38 μg mL<sup>−1</sup>) of the three CNDs (non-doped, N-doped, and N,S-codoped, respectively) to scrutinize the interactions of the CNDs with the larvae. Numerous differences in the metabolic pathways were recorded in all cases. Seven metabolic pathways were detected in the control larvae. When the larvae were exposed to concentrations equal to LC<sub>50</sub>, LC<sub>50/2</sub>, and LC<sub>50/4</sub> of non-doped CNDs, 12, 12, and 3 metabolic pathways were detected, respectively. In the case of N-doped CNDs, 4, 7, and 4 pathways were detected, while in the case of N,S-codoped CNDs, 8, 5, and 5 pathways were detected when exposed to concentrations of LC<sub>50</sub>, LC<sub>50/2</sub>, and LC<sub>50/4</sub>, respectively. In all cases, certain metabolic pathways were altered while others were either down-regulated or up-regulated. Some of these changes include the activation of alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, butanoate metabolism, D-glutamine, and D-glutamate metabolism, glutathione metabolism, selenoamino acid metabolism, valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation pathways. Moreover, the deactivation of starch and sucrose metabolism, the glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism, among others, were recorded. Our findings underline the importance to further study the impact of CNDs on marine organisms. As zebrafish has been shown to share many similarities with humans in bioprocesses and genome, it can be assumed that CNDs may also pose a threat to human health.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/2/483zebrafishmetabolomicsnon-doped carbon nanodotsN-doped carbon nanodotsN,S-codoped carbon nanodots
spellingShingle Theodoros G. Chatzimitakos
Claire Pliatsika
Ieremias Chousidis
Ioannis D. Leonardos
Constantine D. Stalikas
Metabolomic Profiling Unveils the Impact of Non-Doped and Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanodots on Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Embryos
Nanomaterials
zebrafish
metabolomics
non-doped carbon nanodots
N-doped carbon nanodots
N,S-codoped carbon nanodots
title Metabolomic Profiling Unveils the Impact of Non-Doped and Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanodots on Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Embryos
title_full Metabolomic Profiling Unveils the Impact of Non-Doped and Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanodots on Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Embryos
title_fullStr Metabolomic Profiling Unveils the Impact of Non-Doped and Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanodots on Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Embryos
title_full_unstemmed Metabolomic Profiling Unveils the Impact of Non-Doped and Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanodots on Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Embryos
title_short Metabolomic Profiling Unveils the Impact of Non-Doped and Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanodots on Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Embryos
title_sort metabolomic profiling unveils the impact of non doped and heteroatom doped carbon nanodots on zebrafish i danio rerio i embryos
topic zebrafish
metabolomics
non-doped carbon nanodots
N-doped carbon nanodots
N,S-codoped carbon nanodots
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/2/483
work_keys_str_mv AT theodorosgchatzimitakos metabolomicprofilingunveilstheimpactofnondopedandheteroatomdopedcarbonnanodotsonzebrafishidaniorerioiembryos
AT clairepliatsika metabolomicprofilingunveilstheimpactofnondopedandheteroatomdopedcarbonnanodotsonzebrafishidaniorerioiembryos
AT ieremiaschousidis metabolomicprofilingunveilstheimpactofnondopedandheteroatomdopedcarbonnanodotsonzebrafishidaniorerioiembryos
AT ioannisdleonardos metabolomicprofilingunveilstheimpactofnondopedandheteroatomdopedcarbonnanodotsonzebrafishidaniorerioiembryos
AT constantinedstalikas metabolomicprofilingunveilstheimpactofnondopedandheteroatomdopedcarbonnanodotsonzebrafishidaniorerioiembryos