Developmental Toxicity of Ibrutinib: Insights from Stem Cell Dynamics and Neural Regeneration in Planarians

Ibrutinib (IB), a Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, is widely used against B-cell malignancies. However, its adverse effects on stem cell-dependent processes and tissue homeostasis remain incompletely understood. Freshwater planarians possess pluripotent stem cells (neoblasts), which enable remarkable regeneration of various tissues, including the central nervous system. This makes them ideal in vivo models for studying chemical toxicity within a whole-organism context. Here, we utilized planarian <i>Dugesia constrictiva</i> to assess IB toxicity and elucidate its mechanisms, focusing on its impact on stem cell dynamics and regeneration. Our results demonstrated that exposure to IB at concentrations as low as 0.9 mg/L, far below clinical plasma levels, led to severe morphological and regenerative impairments, including disrupted neural regeneration. Mechanistically, IB disrupted stem cell dynamics by suppressing proliferation and differentiation and by inducing oxidative stress via ROS overproduction. Notably, IB exposure significantly downregulated <i>BTK</i> expression. Crucially, <i>BTK</i> RNAi caused the key toxic effects of IB exposure, including morphological and regenerative defects, suppression of stem cell proliferation and differentiation, and increased apoptosis. Therefore, we conclude that IB may exert its toxicity in planarians primarily through <i>BTK</i> inhibition. This finding provides direct functional evidence linking <i>BTK</i> inhibition to stem cell dysfunction and regenerative defects in a novel in vivo context, offering critical insights for refining the clinical safety profile of IB.