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Effects of 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC) on neuronal and muscular development in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos

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Abstract

The negative effects of overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in humans, including sunburn and light-induced cellular injury, are of increasing public concern. 4-Methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC), an organic chemical UV filter, is an active ingredient in sunscreen products. To date, little information is available about its neurotoxicity during early vertebrate development. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to various concentrations of 4-MBC in embryo medium for 3 days. In this study, a high concentration of 4-MBC, which is not being expected at the current environmental concentrations in the environment, was used for the purpose of phenotypic screening. Embryos exposed to 15 μM of 4-MBC displayed abnormal axial curvature and exhibited impaired motility. Exposure effects were found to be greatest during the segmentation period, when somite formation and innervation occur. Immunostaining of the muscle and axon markers F59, znp1, and zn5 revealed that 4-MBC exposure leads to a disorganized pattern of slow muscle fibers and axon pathfinding errors during the innervation of both primary and secondary motor neurons. Our results also showed reduction in AChE activity upon 4-MBC exposure both in vivo in the embryos (15 μM) and in vitro in mammalian Neuro-2A cells (0.1 μM), providing a possible mechanism for 4-MBC-induced muscular and neuronal defects. Taken together, our results have shown that 4-MBC is a teratogen and influences muscular and neuronal development, which may result in developmental defects.

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Acknowledgments

The work described in this paper was substantially supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. CityU 160110).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, SAR, China

    Vincent Wai Tsun Li, Mei Po Mirabelle Tsui, Xueping Chen, Ling Jin, Margaret B. Murphy, Jinping Cheng, Paul Kwan Sing Lam & Shuk Han Cheng

  2. Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, SAR, China

    Vincent Wai Tsun Li & Raymond H. W. Lam

  3. Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, SAR, China

    Mei Po Mirabelle Tsui, Xueping Chen, Michelle Nga Yu Hui, Ling Jin, Margaret B. Murphy, Jinping Cheng & Paul Kwan Sing Lam

  4. School of Environmental and Life Sciences, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Richard Man Kit Yu

  5. Department of Biomedical Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue SAR, Hong Kong, China

    Shuk Han Cheng

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  1. Vincent Wai Tsun Li
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Correspondence to Shuk Han Cheng.

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Li, V.W.T., Tsui, M.P.M., Chen, X. et al. Effects of 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC) on neuronal and muscular development in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 8275–8285 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6180-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6180-9

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