Beneficial effects of bioinspired silver nanoparticles on zebrafish embryos including a gene expression study

Sakthi Devi R; Agnishwar Girigoswami; Shanmugaraja Meenakshi; Balasubramanian Deepika; Karthick Harini; Pemula Gowtham; Pragya Pallavi; Koyeli Girigoswami

doi:10.5599/admet.2102

Beneficial effects of bioinspired silver nanoparticles on zebrafish embryos including a gene expression study

ADMET DMPK. 2024 Jan 1;12(1):177-192. doi: 10.5599/admet.2102. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Sakthi Devi R¹, Agnishwar Girigoswami¹, Shanmugaraja Meenakshi¹, Balasubramanian Deepika¹, Karthick Harini¹, Pemula Gowtham¹, Pragya Pallavi¹, Koyeli Girigoswami¹

Affiliation

¹ Medical Bionanotechnology, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai-603 103, India.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Many sectors use nanoparticles and dispose of them in the aquatic environment without deciding the fate of these particles.

Experimental approach: To identify a benign species of nanoparticles which can cause minimum harm to the aquatic environment, a comparative study was done with chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and green tea mediated synthesis (GT/AgNP) in both in vitro using human alveolar cancer cell line (A549) and normal cell line (L132), and in in vivo with zebrafish embryos.

Key results: The in vitro studies revealed that GT/AgNPs were less toxic to normal cells than cancer cells. The GT/AgNPs showed high biocompatibility for zebrafish embryos monitored microscopically for their developmental stages and by cumulative hatchability studies. The reduced hatchability found in the AgNPs-treated group was correlated by differential gene expression of zebrafish hatching enzymes (ZHE) (ZHE1 and ZHE2).

Conclusion: The results indicated that nanoparticles can affect the hatching of zebrafish embryos and elicit toxicity at the gene level.

Keywords: Green synthesis; biocompatibility; fish embryo; nanoparticle toxicity; zebrafish hatching (ZHE1 and ZHE2).

Grants and funding

The study was funded by Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology (Established by Government of Tamilnadu) under Student Project scheme (2021-2022)- Project Code: BS-929.