β-Lapachone induces heart morphogenetic and functional defects by promoting the death of erythrocytes and the endocardium in zebrafish embryos.

β-Lapachone has antitumor and wound healing-promoting activities. To address the potential influences of various chemicals on heart development of zebrafish embryos, we previously treated zebrafish embryos with chemicals from a Sigma LOPAC1280™ library and found several chemicals including β-lapachone that affected heart morphogenesis. In this study, we further evaluated the effects of β-lapachone on zebrafish embryonic heart development. Embryos were treated with β-lapachone or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at 24 or 48 hours post fertilization (hpf) for 4 h at 28°C. Heart looping and valve development was analyzed by whole-mount in situ hybridization and histological analysis. For fractional shortening and wall shear stress analyses, AB and Tg (gata1:DsRed) embryos were recorded for their heart pumping and blood cell circulations via time-lapse fluorescence microscopy. Dextran rhodamine dye injection into the tail reticular cells was used to analyze circulation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) was analyzed by incubating embryos in 5-(and 6-)-chloromethyl-2',7'-dichloro-dihydrofluorescein diacetate (CM-H2DCFDA) and recorded using fluorescence microscopy. o-Dianisidine (ODA) staining and whole mount in situ hybridization were used to analyze erythrocytes. TUNEL assay was used to examine DNA fragmentation. We observed a linear arrangement of the ventricle and atrium, bradycardia arrhythmia, reduced fractional shortening, circulation with a few or no erythrocytes, and pericardial edema in β-lapachone-treated 52-hpf embryos. Abnormal expression patterns of cmlc2, nppa, BMP4, versican, and nfatc1, and histological analyses showed defects in heart-looping and valve development of β-lapachone-treated embryos. ROS production was observed in erythrocytes and DNA fragmentation was detected in both erythrocytes and endocardium of β-lapachone-treated embryos. Reduction in wall shear stress was uncovered in β-lapachone-treated embryos. Co-treatment with the NQO1 inhibitor, dicoumarol, or the calcium chelator, BAPTA-AM, rescued the erythrocyte-deficiency in circulation and heart-looping defect phenotypes in β-lapachone-treated embryos. These results suggest that the induction of apoptosis of endocardium and erythrocytes by β-lapachone is mediated through an NQO1- and calcium-dependent pathway. The novel finding of this study is that β-lapachone affects heart morphogenesis and function through the induction of apoptosis of endocardium and erythrocytes. In addition, this study further demonstrates the importance of endocardium and hemodynamic forces on heart morphogenesis and contractile performance.