MoS2 2D materials induce spinal cord neuroinflammation and neurotoxicity affecting locomotor performance in zebrafish†

MoS₂ nanosheets belong to an emerging family of nanomaterials named bidimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs). The use of such promising materials, featuring outstanding chemical and physical properties, is expected to increase in several fields of science and technology, with an enhanced risk of environmental dispersion and associated wildlife and human exposures. In this framework, the assessment of MoS₂ nanosheets toxicity is instrumental to safe industrial developments. Currently, the impact of the nanomaterial on the nervous tissue is unexplored. In this work, we use as in vivo experimental model the early-stage zebrafish, to investigate whether mechano-chemically exfoliated MoS₂ nanosheets reach and affect, when added in the behavioral ambient, the nervous system. By high throughput screening of zebrafish larvae locomotor behavioral changes upon exposure to MoS₂ nanosheets and whole organism live imaging of spinal neuronal and glial cell calcium activity, we report that sub-acute and prolonged ambient exposures to MoS₂ nanosheets elicit locomotor abnormalities, dependent on dose and observation time. While 25 μg mL⁻¹ concentration treatments exerted transient effects, 50 μg mL⁻¹ ones induced long-lasting changes, correlated to neuroinflammation-driven alterations in the spinal cord, such as astrogliosis, glial intracellular calcium dysregulation, neuronal hyperactivity and motor axons retraction. By combining integrated technological approaches to zebrafish, we described that MoS₂ 2D nanomaterials can reach, upon water (i.e. ambient) exposure, the nervous system of larvae, resulting in a direct neurological damage.