Early stress exposure on zebrafish development: effects on survival, malformations and molecular alterations.

The effects of stress during early vertebrate development can be especially harmful. Avoiding stressors in fish larvae is essential to ensure the health of adult fish and their reproductive performance and overall production. We examined the consequences of direct exposure to successive acute stressors during early development, including their effects on miR-29a and its targets, survival, hatching and malformation rates, larval behaviour and cartilage and eye development. Our aim was to shed light on the pleiotropic effects of early-induced stress in this vertebrate model species. Our results showed that direct exposure to successive acute stressors during early development significantly upregulated miR-29a and downregulated essential collagen transcripts col2a1a, col6a2 and col11a1a, decreased survival and increased malformation rates (swim bladder, otoliths, cardiac oedema and ocular malformations), promoting higher rates of immobility in larvae. Our results revealed that stress in early stages can induce different eye tissular architecture and cranioencephalic cartilage development alterations. Our research contributes to the understanding of the impact of stressful conditions during the early stages of zebrafish development, serving as a valuable model for vertebrate research. This holds paramount significance in the fields of developmental biology and aquaculture and also highlights miR-29a as a potential molecular marker for assessing novel larval rearing programmes in teleost species.

miR-29a Is Downregulated in Progenies Derived from Chronically Stressed Males.

Recent research has provided compelling evidence demonstrating that paternal exposure to different stressors can influence their offspring's phenotypes. We hypothesized that paternal stress can negatively impact the progeny, altering different miRs and triggering different physiological alterations that could compromise offspring development. To investigate this, we exposed zebrafish male siblings to a chronic stress protocol for 21 days. We performed RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analyses to identify differentially expressed small noncoding RNAs in 7-day postfertilization (dpf) larvae derived from paternally stressed males crossed with control females compared with the control progeny. We found a single miRNA differentially expressed-miR-29a-which was validated in larva and was also tested in the sperm, testicles, and brain of the stressed progenitors. We observed a vertical transmission of chronic stress to the unexposed larvae, reporting novel consequences of paternally inherited chronic stress at a molecular level. The deregulation of mi-R29a in those larvae could affect relevant biological processes affecting development, morphogenesis, or neurogenesis, among others. Additionally, these disruptions were associated with reduced rates of survival and hatching in the affected offspring.

Post-thaw quality assessment of testicular fragments as a source of spermatogonial cells for surrogate production in the flatfish Solea senegalensis.

Cryopreservation of germ cells would facilitate the availability of cells at any time allowing the selection of donors and maintaining quality control for further applications such as transplantation and germline recovery. In the present study, we analyzed the efficiency of four cryopreservation protocols applied either to isolated cell suspensions or to testes fragments from Senegalese sole. In testes fragments, the quality of cryopreserved germ cells was analyzed in vitro in terms of cell recovery, integrity and viability, DNA integrity (fragmentation and apoptosis), and lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde levels). Transplantation of cryopreserved germ cells was performed to check the capacity of cells to in vivo incorporate into the gonadal primordium of Senegalese sole early larval stages (6 days after hatching (dah), pelagic live), during metamorphosis (10 dah) and at post-metamorphic stages (16 dah and 20 dah, benthonic life). Protocols incorporating dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a cryoprotectant showed higher number of recovered spermatogonia, especially in samples cryopreserved with L-15 + DMSO (0.39 ± 0.18 × 106 cells). Lipid peroxidation and DNA fragmentation were also significantly lower in this treatment compared with other treatments. An important increase in oxidation (MDA levels) was detected in samples containing glycerol as a cryoprotectant, reflected also in terms of DNA damage. Transplantation of L-15 + DMSO cryopreserved germ cells into larvae during early metamorphosis (10 dah, 5.2 mm) showed higher incorporation of cells (27.30 ± 5.27%) than other larval stages (lower than 11%). Cryopreservation of germ cells using testes fragments frozen with L-15 + DMSO was demonstrated to be a useful technique to store Senegalese sole germline.

Paternal Inheritance of Bisphenol A Cardiotoxic Effects: The Implications of Sperm Epigenome.

Parental exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) has been linked to a greater incidence of congenital diseases. We have demonstrated that BPA induces in zebrafish males an increase in the acetylation of sperm histones that is transmitted to the blastomeres of the unexposed progeny. This work is aimed to determine whether histone hyperacetylation promoted by paternal exposure to BPA is the molecular mechanism underlying the cardiogenesis impairment in the descendants. Zebrafish males were exposed to 100 and 2000 µg/L BPA during early spermatogenesis and mated with non-exposed females. We analyzed in the progeny the expression of genes involved in cardiogenesis and the epigenetic profile. Once the histone hyperacetylation was confirmed, treatment with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an inhibitor of histone acetyltransferases, was assayed on F1 embryos. Embryos from males exposed to 2000 µg/L BPA overexpressed the transcription factor hand2 and the receptor esr2b, showing their own promoters-as well as that of kat6a-an enrichment in H3K9ac. In embryos treated with EGCG, both gene expression and histone acetylation (global and specific) returned to basal levels, and the phenotype was recovered. As shown by the results, the histone hyperacetylated landscape promoted by BPA in the sperm alters the chromatin structure of the progeny, leading to the overexpression of the histone acetyltransferase and genes involved in cardiogenesis.

Improving sperm cryopreservation with antifreeze proteins: effect on gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) plasma membrane lipids.

Changes in the plasma membrane lipid composition have been related to a decrease in sperm quality during cryopreservation. Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) have been tested in different species because of their ability to depress the freezing point and their potential interaction with membranes, but controversial effects were reported. In the present study we analyzed separately the lipid composition of two sperm membrane domains, head plasma membrane (HM) and flagellar membrane (FM), after cryopreservation with an extender containing 5% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) either alone or with AFPI or AFPIII (1 µg/ml). We used sperm from a teleost, Sparus aurata, because the lack of acrosome avoids changes of lipid profiles due to capacitation process or acrosomal losses during freezing/thawing. Comparing with the control (cryopreservation with 5% DMSO alone), the addition of AFPIII increased the velocity, linearity of movement, and percentage of viable cells. In addition, freezing with DMSO alone increased the phosphatidyl-serine content as well as the saturated fatty acids and decreased the unsaturated ones (mainly polyunsaturated) both in HM and FM. These changes in the lipid components were highly avoided with the addition of AFPIII. HM had a higher amount of saturated fatty acids than FM and was more affected by cryopreservation without AFPs. The percentage of viable cells was positively correlated with the amount of unsaturated fatty acids in the HM, whereas the motility parameters were positively correlated with both FM and HM amount of unsaturated fatty acids. AFPs, especially AFPIII, seem to have interacted with unsaturated fatty acids, stabilizing the plasma membrane organization during cryopreservation and contributing to improve sperm quality after thawing.

Effects of bisphenol A exposure during cardiac cell differentiation.

Heart development requires a precise temporal regulation of gene expression in cardiomyoblasts. Therefore, the transcriptional changes in differentiating cells can lead to congenital heart diseases. Although the genetic mutations underlie most of these alterations, exposure to environmental contaminants, such as bisphenol A (BPA), has been recently considered as a risk factor as well. In this study we investigated the genotoxic and epigenotoxic effects of BPA throughout cardiomyocyte differentiation. H9c2 cells (rat myoblasts) were exposed to 10 and 30 µM BPA before and during the last two days of cardiac-driven differentiation. Then, we have analysed the phenotypic and molecular modifications (at transcriptional, genetic and epigenetic level). The results showed that treated myoblasts developed a skeletal muscle cell-like phenotype. The transcriptional changes induced by BPA in genes codifying proteins involved in heart differentiation and function depend on the window of exposure to BPA. The exposure before differentiation repressed the expression of heart transcription factors (Hand2 and Gata4), whereas exposure during differentiation reduced the expression of cardiac-specific genes (Tnnt2, Myom2, Sln, and Atp2a1). Additionally, significant effects were observed regarding DNA damage and histone acetylation levels after the two periods of BPA exposure: in cells exposed to the toxicant the percentage of DNA repair foci (formed by the co-localization of γH2AX and 53BP1) increased in a dose-dependent manner, whereas the treatment with the toxicant triggered a decrease in the epigenetic marks H3K9ac and H3K27ac. Our in vitro results reveal that BPA seriously interferes with the process of cardiomyocyte differentiation, which could be related to the reported in vivo effects of this toxicant on cardiogenesis.

Distribution of DNA damage in the human sperm nucleus: implications of the architecture of the sperm head.

The sperm nucleus is prone to sustain DNA damage before and after ejaculation. Distribution of the damage is not homogeneous, and the factors determining differential sensitivity among nuclear regions have not yet been characterized. Human sperm chromatin contains three structural domains, two of which are considered the most susceptible to DNA damage: the histone bound domain, harboring developmental related genes, and the domain associated with nuclear matrix proteins. Using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) approach, we analyzed the number of lesions in genes homeobox A3 (HOXA3), homeobox B5 (HOXB 5), sex-determining region Y (SRY)-box 2 (SOX2), ß-GLOBIN, rDNA 18S, and rDNA 28S in human sperm after ultraviolet irradiation (400 µW cm-2, 10 min), H2O2treatment (250 mmol l-1, 20 min), and cryopreservation, which showed differential susceptibility to genetic damage. Differential vulnerability is dependent on the genotoxic agent and independent of the sperm nuclear proteins to which the chromatin is bound and of accessibility to the transcription machinery. Immunodetection of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) showed that the highest level of oxidation was observed after H2O2treatment. The distribution of oxidative lesions also differed depending on the genotoxic agent. 8-OHdG did not colocalize either with histone 3 (H3) or with type IIα + ß topoisomerase (TOPO IIα + ß) after H2O2treatment but matched perfectly with peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6), which is involved in H2O2metabolism. Our study reveals that the characteristics of the sperm head domains are responsible for access of the genotoxicants and cause differential degree of damage to nuclear areas, whereas chromatin packaging has a very limited relevance. The histone-enriched genes analyzed cannot be used as biomarkers of oxidative DNA damage.

Cardiogenesis impairment promoted by bisphenol A exposure is successfully counteracted by epigallocatechin gallate.

Exposure to the emerging contaminant bisphenol A (BPA) is ubiquitous and associated with cardiovascular disorders. BPA effect as endocrine disruptor is widely known but other mechanisms underlying heart disease, such as epigenetic modifications, remain still unclear. A compound of green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), may act both as anti-estrogen and as inhibitor of some epigenetic enzymes. The aims of this study were to analyze the molecular processes related to BPA impairment of heart development and to prove the potential ability of EGCG to neutralize the toxic effects caused by BPA on cardiac health. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to 2000 and 4000 µg/L BPA and treated with 50 and 100 µM EGCG. Heart malformations were assessed at histological level and by confocal imaging. Expression of genes involved in cardiac development, estrogen receptors and epigenetic enzymes was analyzed by qPCR whereas epigenetic modifications were evaluated by whole mount immunostaining. BPA embryonic exposure led to changes in cardiac phenotype, induced an overexpression of hand2, a crucial factor for cardiomyocyte differentiation, increased the expression of estrogen receptor (esr2b), promoted an overexpression of a histone acetyltransferase (kat6a) and also caused an increase in histone acetylation, both mechanisms being able to act in sinergy. EGCG treatment neutralized all the molecular alterations caused by BPA, allowing the embryos to go on with a proper heart development. Both molecular mechanisms of BPA action (estrogenic and epigenetic) likely lying behind cardiogenesis impairment were successfully counteracted by EGCG treatment.

Embryonic Exposure to Bisphenol A Impairs Primordial Germ Cell Migration without Jeopardizing Male Breeding Capacity.

A large amount of chemicals are released to the environment each year. Among them, bisphenol A (BPA) is of utmost concern since it interferes with the reproductive system of wild organisms due to its capacity to bind to hormone receptors. Additionally, BPA epigenotoxic activity is known to affect basic processes during embryonic life. However, its effects on primordial germ cells (PGCs) proliferation and migration, both mechanisms being crucial for gametogenesis, remain unknown. To investigate the effects of BPA on PGCs migration and eventual testicle development, zebrafish embryos were exposed to 100, 2000 and 4000 µg/L BPA during the first 24 h of development. Vasa immunostaining of PGCs revealed that exposure to 2000 and 4000 µg/L BPA impaired their migration to the genital ridge. Two pivotal genes of PGCs migration (cxcr4b and sdf1a) were highly dysregulated in embryos exposed to these doses, whereas DNA methylation and epigenetic marks in PGCs and their surrounding somatic cells were not altered. Once embryos reached adulthood, the morphometric study of their gonads revealed that, despite the reduced number of PGCs which colonized the genital ridges, normal testicles were developed. Although H3K9ac decreased in the sperm from treated fishes, it did not affect the progeny development.

Genetic and epigenetic alterations induced by bisphenol A exposure during different periods of spermatogenesis: from spermatozoa to the progeny.

Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) has been related to male reproductive disorders. Since this endocrine disruptor also displays genotoxic and epigenotoxic effects, it likely alters the spermatogenesis, a process in which both hormones and chromatin remodeling play crucial roles. The hypothesis of this work is that BPA impairs early embryo development by modifying the spermatic genetic and epigenetic information. Zebrafish males were exposed to 100 and 2000 µg/L BPA during early spermatogenesis and during the whole process. Genotoxic and epigenotoxic effects on spermatozoa (comet assay and immunocytochemistry) as well as progeny development (mortality, DNA repairing activity, apoptosis and epigenetic profile) were evaluated. Exposure to 100 µg/L BPA during mitosis slightly increased sperm chromatin fragmentation, enhancing DNA repairing activity in embryos. The rest of treatments promoted high levels of sperm DNA damage, triggering apoptosis in early embryo and severely impairing survival. Regarding epigenetics, histone acetylation (H3K9Ac and H3K27Ac) was similarly enhanced in spermatozoa and embryos from males exposed to all the treatments. Therefore, BPA male exposure jeopardizes embryonic survival and development due to the transmission of a paternal damaged genome and of a hyper-acetylated histone profile, both alterations depending on the dose of the toxicant and the temporal window of exposure.

Paternal exposure to environmental 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol concentrations modifies testicular transcription, affecting the sperm transcript content and the offspring performance in zebrafish.

The synthetic estrogen 17-α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), a major constituent in contraceptive pills, is an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) present in the aquatic environment at concentrations of ng/L. Developmental exposure to these low concentrations in fish can induce several disorders. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a perfect organism for monitoring the effects of environmental contaminants. Our hypothesis is that changes promoted by EE2 in the germ line of male adults could be transmitted to the unexposed progeny. We exposed male zebrafish to 2.5, 5 and 10ng/L of EE2 during spermatogenesis and mated them with untreated females. Detailed progeny development was studied concentrating to survival, hatching and malformations. Due to the high incidence of lymphedemas within larvae, we performed qPCR analysis of genes involved in lymphatic development (vegfc and vegfr3) and endothelial cell migration guidance (cxcr4a and cxcl12b). Estrogen receptor (ER) transcript presence was also evaluated in sperm, testis and embryos. Progenies showed a range of disorders although at a low incidence: skeletal distortions, uninflated swimbladder, lymphedema formation, cartilage deformities and otolith tethering. Swimming evaluation revealed less active locomotion. All these processes are related to pathways involving ERs (esr1, esr2a and esr2b). mRNA analysis revealed that environmental EE2 causes the up-regulation of esr1 an esr2b in testis and the increase of esr2b transcripts in sperm pointing to a link between lymphedema in embryos and ER expression impairment. We demonstrate that the effects induced by environmental toxicants can be paternally inherited and point to the changes on the sperm transcriptome as the responsible mechanism.

Transgenerational inheritance of heart disorders caused by paternal bisphenol A exposure.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor used in manufacturing of plastic devices, resulting in an ubiquitous presence in the environment linked to human infertility, obesity or cardiovascular diseases. Both transcriptome and epigenome modifications lie behind these disorders that might be inherited transgenerationally when affecting germline. To assess potential effects of paternal exposure on offspring development, adult zebrafish males were exposed to BPA during spermatogenesis and mated with non-treated females. Results showed an increase in the rate of heart failures of progeny up to the F2, as well as downregulation of 5 genes involved in cardiac development in F1 embryos. Moreover, BPA causes a decrease in F0 and F1 sperm remnant mRNAs related to early development. Results reveal a paternal inheritance of changes in the insulin signaling pathway due to downregulation of insulin receptor ß mRNAs, suggesting a link between BPA male exposure and disruption of cardiogenesis in forthcoming generations.

Comparative proteome analysis of cryopreserved flagella and head plasma membrane proteins from sea bream spermatozoa: effect of antifreeze proteins.

Cryopreservation induces injuries to fish spermatozoa that in turn affect sperm quality in terms of fertilization ability, motility, DNA and protein integrity and larval survival. To reduce the loss of sperm quality due to freezing-thawing, it is necessary to improve these procedures. In the present study we investigated the ability of two antifreeze proteins (AFPI and AFPIII) to reduce the loss of quality of sea bream spermatozoa due to cryopreservation. To do so, we compared viability, motility, straight-line velocity and curvilinear velocity of fresh and (AFPs)-cryopreserved spermatozoa. AFPIII addition to cryopreservation medium improved viability, motility and straight-line velocity with respect to DMSO or DMSO plus AFPI. To clarify the molecular mechanism(s) underlying these findings, the protein profile of two different cryopreserved sperm domains, flagella and head plasma membranes, was analysed. The protein profiles differed between fresh and frozen-thawed semen and results of the image analysis demonstrated that, after cryopreservation, out of 270 proteins 12 were decreased and 7 were increased in isolated flagella, and out of 150 proteins 6 showed a significant decrease and 4 showed a significant increase in head membranes. Mass spectrometry analysis identified 6 proteins (4 from isolated flagella and 2 present both in flagella and head plasma membranes) within the protein spots affected by the freezing-thawing procedure. 3 out of 4 proteins from isolated flagella were involved in the sperm bioenergetic system. Our results indicate that the ability of AFPIII to protect sea bream sperm quality can be, at least in part, ascribed to reducing changes in the sperm protein profile occurring during the freezing-thawing procedure. Our results clearly demonstrated that AFPIII addition to cryopreservation medium improved the protection against freezing respect to DMSO or DMSO plus AFPI. In addition we propose specific proteins of spermatozoa as markers related to the procedures of fish sperm cryopreservation.

Differential gene susceptibility to sperm DNA damage: analysis of developmental key genes in trout.

Sperm chromatin in mammals is packaged in different blocks associated to protamines (PDNA), histones (HDNA), or nuclear matrix proteins. Differential packaging has been related to early or late transcription and also to differential susceptibility to genotoxic damage. Genes located in the more accessible HDNA could be more susceptible to injuries than those located in PDNA, being potential biomarkers of paternal DNA damage. Fish sperm chromatin organization is much diversified, some species lacking protamines and some others totally depleted of histones. Analyzing genotoxic damage in a species homogeneously compacted with some sperm nuclear basic protein type, could help in deciphering the clues of differential susceptibility to damage. In the present study we analyzed in rainbow trout the differential susceptibility of nine genes to UV irradiation and H2O2 treatment. The absence of histones in the sperm nuclei was confirmed by Western blot. The chromatin fractionation in sensitive and resistant regions to PvuII (presumably HDNA-like and PDNA-like, respectively) revealed that the nine genes locate in the same resistant region. The number of lesions promoted was quantified using a qPCR approach. Location of 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was analyzed by immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy. UV irradiation promoted similar number of lesions in all the analyzed genes and a homogenous distribution of 8-OHdG within the nuclei. 8-OHdG was located in the peripheral area of the nucleus after H2O2 treatment, which promoted a significantly higher number of lesions in developmental-related genes (8.76-10.95 lesions/10 kb) than in rDNA genes (1.05-1.67 lesions/10 kb). We showed for the first time, that differential susceptibility to damage is dependent on the genotoxic mechanism and relies on positional differences between genes. Sensitive genes were also analyzed in cryopreserved sperm showing a lower number of lesions than the previous treatments and a predominant peripheral distribution of oxidative damage (8-OHdG).

Aquaporin inhibition changes protein phosphorylation pattern following sperm motility activation in fish.

Our previous studies demonstrated that osmolality is the key signal in sperm motility activation in Sparus aurata spermatozoa. In particular, we have proposed that the hyper-osmotic shock triggers water efflux from spermatozoa via aquaporins. This water efflux determines the cell volume reduction and, in turn, the rise in the intracellular concentration of ions. This increase could lead to the activation of adenylyl cyclase and of the cAMP-signaling pathway, causing the phosphorylation of sperm proteins and then the initiation of sperm motility. This study confirms the important role of sea bream AQPs (Aqp1a and Aqp10b) in the beginning of sperm motility. In fact, when these proteins are inhibited by HgCl(2), the phosphorylation of some proteins (174 kDa protein of head; 147, 97 and 33 kDa proteins of flagella), following the hyper-osmotic shock, was inhibited (totally or partially). However, our results also suggest that more than one transduction pathways could be activated when sea bream spermatozoa were ejaculated in seawater, since numerous proteins showed an HgCl(2)(AQPs)-independent phosphorylation state after motility activation. The role played by each different signal transduction pathways need to be clarified.