Cytoprotective Activities of Water-Soluble Fullerenes in Zebrafish Models - Zebrafish: Methods for Assessing Drug Safety and Toxicity - page 267

Figure 19.9 Protection of hair cells from cisplatinum damage by C3 (1), 3-5, and 7.

Gentamicin and related aminoglycoside antibiotics are alsowidely used against a
variety of serious infections in both adult and pediatric populations. High-dose
gentamicin exposure is occasionally required with life-threatening infections, but
may lead to permanent damage to outer hair cells of the inner ear and result in hearing
loss or deafness (Yoshikawa, 1980; Matz, 1993; Stavroulaki et al., 1999; Unal
et al., 2005). In zebrafish embryos, exposure to gentamicin or the related antibiotic
neomycin also induces apoptosis and complete loss of DASPEI-stained dorsal
mechanoreceptor hair cells in a pattern indistinguishable from that described for
cisplatinum. We therefore assessed the comparative ability of our water-soluble
fullerenes to block gentamicin-induced hair cell apoptosis and cell loss. Surprisingly,
our results contrast substantially with those observed in the same cells using
cisplatinum-induced cell loss (Fig. 19.10). C3 (1), 4, and 6 are most effective in
protecting against gentamicin-induced hair cell loss, with EC 50 values of 34, 29, and
35

M).
Dendrofullerene 3, the most effective fullerene against cisplatinum-induced hair cell
loss, ranks far behind in protection of the same cells from gentamicin-induced
apoptosis (128

m M, respectively, followed closely by 5 (47 m M), 8 (60.7 m M), and 9 (78 m

m M), along with 2 (97.5 m M) and 7 (124 m M) m M. It should be