Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: From the Cover: ZnO Nanoparticles Enhanced Germ Cell Apoptosis in Caenorhabditis elegans, in Comparison with ZnCl2.

Authors: O'Donnell, Brittany; Huo, Lily; Polli, Joseph R; Qiu, Li; Collier, David N; Zhang, Baohong; Pan, Xiaoping

Published In Toxicol Sci, (2017 Apr 01)

Abstract: Effects of ZnO NPs and ionic Zn on germline apoptosis and the regulation of genes in the apoptosis pathway were investigated in vivo using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans.Age synchronized Bristol N2 worms were exposed to ZnO NPs and ZnCl2 at concentrations of 6.14 × 10-1, 61.4, and 614 μM form larval stage 1 (L1) to early adulthood. Possible ZnO nanoparticles were observed under the worm cuticle and also in the gonadal region by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). ZnO NPs and ZnCl2 both significantly increased the number of apoptotic cells as compared with controls in the 61.4 and 614 μM treatment groups (P < .05). However, ZnO NPs induced more apoptotic cells in the 61.4 μM treatment than ZnCl2 (P <  .05), suggesting ZnO NP is more potent in inducing apoptosis at specific exposure concentration. Findings using the MD701 (bcIs39 [(lim-7)ced-1p::GFP + lin-15(+)]) strain further confirmed the observations in N2 strain. Genes involved in the apoptosis pathway (ced-13, ced-3, ced-4, ced-9, cep-1, dpl-1, efl-1, efl-2, egl-1, egl-38, lin-35, pax-2, and sir-2.1) were in general upregulated in response to ZnO NP exposure. The cep-1/p53 gene was up-regulated in gene expression assay. In the cep-1 loss of function mutant, no significant increase in apoptosis was observed. Therefore, the increased apoptosis resulting from ZnO NPs exposure is likely cep-1/p53 dependent. This study provides evidence that ZnO nanoparticles affect germ cell apoptotic machinery as a potential mechanism of reproductive toxicity.

PubMed ID: 28003440 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Animals; Apoptosis/drug effects*; Apoptosis/genetics; Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/genetics; Caenorhabditis elegans/drug effects*; Caenorhabditis elegans/genetics; Chlorides/pharmacology*; Germ Cells/drug effects*; Metal Nanoparticles*; Zinc Compounds/pharmacology*; Zinc Oxide/pharmacology*

Back
to Top