Researchers propose new method to elucidate PFOS-induced neurotoxicity

Credit: Journal of Hazardous Materials (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136712
The term “omics” refers to the study of the entire molecular mechanisms that occur inside living organisms. The advent of omics technologies such as transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics has improved our understanding of the molecular pathways of toxic environmental pollutants.
However, most ecotoxicology studies still rely on single-omics analyses, leaving gaps in our understanding of the comprehensive toxicity pathways of pollutants. Researchers around the world have strived to build reliable biomolecular analyzes by designing multi-omics studies from a single biological sample.
Although such advances have been reported from various model systems such as mammalian cells and C. elegans, zebrafish toxicity studies are still based on single-omics analyzes using individually prepared biological samples. However, the selection of appropriate extraction solvents and pool sizes for accurate omics analysis remains a challenge in zebrafish toxicity studies.
To address this gap, a research team led by Professor Ki-Tae Kim has now proposed a new approach to simultaneously extract metabolites and lipids for multi-omics analysis from a single sample using zebrafish embryos. did. Their research is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.
To this end, the researchers used a methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)-based extraction strategy using a single biological sample from zebrafish embryos for simultaneous metabolomics and lipidomics analyses.
Professor Kim said, “To increase the applicability of our findings to environmental toxicology, we will elucidate the biomolecular mechanisms underlying PFOS-induced neurobehavioral changes and compare them with previous findings of PFOS-induced metabolomics.” By doing so, we evaluated the analytical performance of the MTBE-based strategy.” Dysregulation. ”
In their research, Professor Kim and his team determined the optimal embryo pool size for applying MTBE-based extraction. Sample-to-sample variation was lowest when 30 or more larvae were used. Therefore, they suggest using 30 larvae as the optimal pool size for simultaneous metabolomics and lipidomics analysis.
Their new extraction strategy also revealed more lipids and metabolites compared to traditionally used extraction solvents. Application of an MTBE-based strategy helped to record changes in metabolites and lipids related to energy metabolism in zebrafish larvae exposed to PFOS.
“The destruction of metabolites and lipids affects biological processes such as energy metabolism, including disrupted amino acid and fatty acid metabolism, revealing the biomolecular mechanisms underlying behavioral changes in larvae.” Professor Kim says. Furthermore, comprehensive profiling of biomolecular dysregulation in this study helped identify sphingolipids as reliable biomarkers of PFOS-induced neurotoxicity.
This approach of using a single sample for multi-omics studies can be extended to a variety of biomolecules, leading to toxicity control at the biomolecular level. Furthermore, the proposed approach will help develop a safer and healthier environment in the future by facilitating research on measuring exposure to environmental pollutants.
As is well known, PFOS is one of the most prevalent environmental pollutants commonly found in aquatic ecosystems. Biomonitoring studies have reported that it is present in high concentrations in water, human blood, and even human cerebrospinal fluid. Reliable analysis of biomolecules in a single sample is essential for multi- and integrative omics, which has broad applications in understanding molecular dysregulation induced by such toxic chemicals.
Emphasizing the potential of this strategy to speed up such analyses, Professor Kim said, “The developed method will spark mechanism-based classification studies of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and improve the classification of environmental toxicants.” This will contribute to the advancement of multi-omics analysis technology in science.”
Further information: Eun Ki Min et al, Applying a newly proposed simultaneous metabolomics and lipidomics analysis to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid-derived neurotoxicity mechanisms in zebrafish embryos, Journal of Hazardous Materials (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136712
Provided by Seoul National University of Science and Technology
Citation: Researchers propose new method to shed light on PFOS-induced neurotoxicity (January 15, 2025) from https://phys.org/news/2025-01-method-pfos-neurotoxicity.html Retrieved January 15, 2025
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