Decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209) and/or BDE-47 exposure alters protein expression in purified neural stem/progenitor cells determined by proteomics analysis

Polybrominateddiphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely utilized as the additive brominated flame retardants in electronic devices, furniture, plastics, rubber foam, and textiles, which exhibit many negative biological effects, especially potential toxic effects on neurodevelopment. In the present study, we applied a proteomics approach to study the effects of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) and/or tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) on the expression of proteins extracted from neural stem/progenitor cells and further explored mechanisms on neurodevelopmental toxicity. We sub-cultured 3-4 generations of neural stem/progenitor cells which were exposed to BDE-209 and/or BDE-47. After a 72-h exposure, we applied two-dimensional gel (2-DE) to identify differentially expressed proteins and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) to determine the protein identity of 25 spots. Western blot analysis was applied to determine the expression of cofilin-1 and vimentin. A total of 39 differential expression protein spots were identified by 2-DE after BDE-209 and/or BDE-47 exposure in the neural stem/progenitor cells, and 19 differentially expressed proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF-MS. Western blot analysis revealed that cofilin-1 and vimentin were differentially expressed in all groups. Expression of both proteins was decreased when the neural stem/progenitor cells were exposed to BDE-209 and were absent when exposed to both BDE-47 and BDE-209. BDE-209 and/or BDE-47 might alter the expression of some proteins of neural stem/progenitor cells. Nineteen proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF-MS, which will provide a useful basis for further study of the mechanisms underlying PBDE-mediated neurotoxicity.