Abstract
Brevetoxins (PbTx) are neurotoxins produced by the marine dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, the organism responsible for harmful algal blooms (HABs) commonly known as Florida red tide. These toxins pose risks to both human and marine life. Red-tide events frequently result in massive fish kills, driven by PbTx activation of voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) in neuronal and skeletal muscle cells. Human exposure can occur through the consumption of filter-feeding shellfish, leading to neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP), or through inhalation of aerosolized toxins that can cause respiratory problems. Given these public health concerns and ecological risks, it is important to understand how PbTx impact aquatic organisms at the molecular level. Although previous studies have shown the developmental impacts of PbTx in zebrafish and other fish species, the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood. To investigate these effects, zebrafish embryos were exposed to three concentrations of PbTx-2 (0.5, 1 and 5 ppb) and liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based proteomic methods were applied to identify differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) across treatment groups. By comparing protein expression profiles across treatment groups, this study identified proteomic changes associated with PbTx-2 exposure during early vertebrate development. Since K. brevis blooms are an ongoing issue in Southwest Florida, the findings from this study will help contribute to our understanding of red-tide effects on ecosystem health by understanding its impacts on early fish development.
