Di-isononyl phthalate an emerging contaminant in freshwater: what are the risks for apoptotic and autophagyc processes in zebrafish gonads

Abstract

The presence of several substances on plastic formulations has been hazardous due to the potential of endocrine disruptor activity of these compounds and possible harmful effects to humans. Endocrine Disruptors Chemicals (EDCs) are harmful to the reproductive physiology of animals, specially in critical periods of life like juveniles, puberty, intrauterine life, etc. These compounds have also been present in aquatic environments and classified as emerging compounds due to the possible effects in the aquatic biota. In this sense, the physiological process involving the reproduction pathways, as gametogenesis and atresia, are relevant for the maintenance of reproductive tissue homeostasis in the animals. The reproductive pathways include some main processes called autophagy and atresia, they are essential to regulate germinative cells growth and degeneration, the enzymatic cascade and different genes expression involved are necessary to the evaluation of toxicological effects of these emerging compounds, as the fthalates. Considering the importance of reproductive physiology on the ecotoxicological studies and the impact of these substances in aquatic life, the present study aims to evaluate the effects of di-isononyl phthalate (DiNP) in the autophagy and apoptosis of Danio rerio gonads, commonly known as zebrafish. The study will be carried out in bioassays using a multidisciplinary approach using transcriptome, proteomic and a comparative anatomic study. (AU)