Environmental temperature changes and BDNF depletion induce neurotoxicity in Danio Rerio

Anthropic action amplifies global warming taking place on our planet, causing the release greenhouse gases, including CO2. Physiology and behavior of ectothermic animals are influenced by temperature. We recently demonstrated that environmental temperature variation heavily alters locomotor activity but also complex behaviors such as anxiety, social behavior, aggression, learning, and cognitive behaviors in Danio rerio [1, 2]. In summary, our data suggested that temperature variation can be counted among the factors that generate neurotoxicity. To confirm such hypothesis, the different proteomic datasets used in our previous studies (18°C, 26°C and 34°C) for 4 days (acute) or 21 days (chronic treatment) [1, 2], and BDNF+/- and BDNF-/-zebrafish (kept at 26°C or 34°C for 21 days) [3] were re-analysed by an integrated proteomic approach by means of the software Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). The output of our analysis provides three protein panels related to 18°C, 34°C and BDNF depletion that can be linked to anxiety-like or boldness behavior compared to control (26 °C) and identifies proteins that can be used as hallmarks of neurotoxic processes common to all the treatments applied [4]. To further characterize the impact of environmental changes on the zebrafish brain, we are now analyzing the lipid component of the brain using a targeted and untargeted lipidomic approach and we are studying the eye proteome, as the eye is anatomical extension of the brain which is often affected in neurological disorder.

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