Combined exposure to titanium dioxide and tetracycline induces neurotoxicity in zebrafish

In aquatic environment, engineered materials may inevitably interact with the coexisted organic pollutants, which affect their bioavailability and toxicity. In this contribution, the combined impacts of tetracycline (TC) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 NPs) on the neurodevelopment of zebrafish larvae were investigated, and the underlying mechanisms were further elucidated. Firstly, it was confirmed that the co-existence of TC would increase the size and decrease the zeta potential of TiO 2 NPs. Following, developmental indicators and motor behaviors were investigated. Our results indicated that co-exposure to TC and TiO 2 NPs exhibited enhanced embryonic malformation rates and abnormal nervous system development in zebrafish embryos. Meanwhile, the locomotor behavior was increased upon treatment of TC and TiO 2 NP. Further, pathway enrichment analyses of transcriptomic sequencing provided detailed information that either lipid metabolism or PPAR signaling pathway were significantly affected in the co-exposure group. Also, TC + TiO 2 NP exposure significantly changed the mRNA expression of neural development-related genes and up-regulated the expression levels of neurotransmitters like 5-hydroxytryptamine, dopamine, acetylcholinesterase , and γ-aminobutyric acid. Taken together, our results demonstrated that the co-exposure of TC and TiO 2 NPs had the potential to cause neurotoxicity in zebrafish embryos.