Sea urchin embryos: development and stress toxicity

Interference of metals in sea urchin embryo development.

Environmentally relevant cadmium concentrations affect development and induce apoptosis of Paracentrotus lividus larvae cultured in vitro. Epub ahead of print.

Sea urchin embryos and larvae represent suitable model systems on where to investigate the effects of heavy metals on development and cell viability. Here, we tested the toxic effects of low (10(-12 )M), medium (10(-9 )M), and high (10(-6 )M) cadmium chloride concentrations, mimicking unpolluted, moderately and highly polluted seawaters, respectively, on Paracentrotus lividus sea urchins offspring. Larvae were continuously treated from fertilization and inspected at time intervals comprised between 10 and 30 days of development. Delays and/or morphological abnormalities were firstly evident in larvae treated for 15 days with high cadmium (10(-6 )M) and for 25 days with medium cadmium (10(-9…

Cadmium accumulation induces apoptosis in P. Lividus embryos

Cadmium as apoptotic inductor in sea urchin embryos: possible implication of extrinsic pathway