Fish liver cell lines are valuable tools to understand the toxicity of chemicals in aquatic vertebrates such as fish. While conventional 2D cell cultures grown in monolayers are well established, they fail to emulate toxic gradients and cellular functions as in in-vivo conditions. To overcome these limitations, a recent study by Wang et al. (2023), focused on the development of clearfin livebearer Poeciliopsis lucida (PLHC-1) spheroids as a testing platform to evaluate the toxicity of a mixture of plastic additives. Spheroids are 3D cell aggregates that can mimic tissues and micro-tumours. When exposed to a mixture of plastic additives, they found the spheroids were less responsive in terms of decreased cell viability and generation of reactive oxygen species but were more sensitive than cells growing in monolayers for lipidomic responses. The development of PLHC-1 spheroids as a testing platform represents an important step towards the application of more realistic in-vitro methods in aquatic toxicity research studies.
Wang T, Desmet J, Pérez-Albaladejo E, Porte C. (2023). Development of fish liver PLHC-1 spheroids and its applicability to investigate the toxicity of plastic additives. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 15;259:115016. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115016. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37196525.