TY - JOUR
T1 - Mercury-pollution induction of intracellular lipid accumulation and lysosomal compartment amplification in the benthic foraminifer ammonia parkinsoniana
AU - Frontalini, Fabrizio
AU - Curzi, Davide
AU - Cesarini, Erica
AU - Canonico, Barbara
AU - Giordano, Francesco M.
AU - De Matteis, Rita
AU - Bernhard, Joan M.
AU - Pieretti, Nadia
AU - Gu, Baohua
AU - Eskelsen, Jeremy R.
AU - Jubb, Aaron M.
AU - Zhao, Linduo
AU - Pierce, Eric M.
AU - Gobbi, Pietro
AU - Papa, Stefano
AU - Coccioni, Rodolfo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
PY - 2016/9
Y1 - 2016/9
N2 - Heavy metals such as mercury (Hg) pose a significant health hazard through bioaccumulation and biomagnification. By penetrating cell membranes, heavy metal ions may lead to pathological conditions. Here we examined the responses of Ammonia parkinsoniana, a benthic foraminiferan, to different concentrations of Hg in the artificial sea water. Confocal images of untreated and treated specimens using fluorescent probes (Nile Red and Acridine Orange) provided an opportunity for visualizing the intracellular lipid accumulation and acidic compartment regulation. With increased Hg over time, we observed an increased number of lipid droplets, which may have acted as a detoxifying organelle where Hg is sequestered and biologically inactivated. Further, Hg seems to promote the proliferation of lysosomes both in terms of number and dimension that, at the highest level of Hg, resulted in cell death. We report, for the first time, the presence of Hg within the foraminiferal cell: at the basal part of pores, in the organic linings of the foramen/septa, and as cytoplasmic accumulations.
AB - Heavy metals such as mercury (Hg) pose a significant health hazard through bioaccumulation and biomagnification. By penetrating cell membranes, heavy metal ions may lead to pathological conditions. Here we examined the responses of Ammonia parkinsoniana, a benthic foraminiferan, to different concentrations of Hg in the artificial sea water. Confocal images of untreated and treated specimens using fluorescent probes (Nile Red and Acridine Orange) provided an opportunity for visualizing the intracellular lipid accumulation and acidic compartment regulation. With increased Hg over time, we observed an increased number of lipid droplets, which may have acted as a detoxifying organelle where Hg is sequestered and biologically inactivated. Further, Hg seems to promote the proliferation of lysosomes both in terms of number and dimension that, at the highest level of Hg, resulted in cell death. We report, for the first time, the presence of Hg within the foraminiferal cell: at the basal part of pores, in the organic linings of the foramen/septa, and as cytoplasmic accumulations.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0162401
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0162401
M3 - Article
C2 - 27603511
AN - SCOPUS:84991688496
VL - 11
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 9
M1 - e0162401
ER -