Reproductive toxicity and underlying mechanisms of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on Caenorhabditis elegans in different seasons

作者：Xiaoming Liu, Pengxiang Ge, Zhenyu Lu, Rongying Yang, Zhengjiang Liu, Fen Zhao, Mindong Chen · 发表于：Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.114281 · 被引用次数：22 · 研究领域：Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms、Selenium in Biological Systems、Air Quality and Health Impacts

Although numerous studies have investigated that atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can be toxic to environmental organisms, the research on the reproductive toxicity of PM2.5 is limited, and the key toxic components and underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In this work, PM2.5 samples of four seasons in Nanjing from March 1, 2021, to February 28, 2022 were collected and the chemical components were analyzed. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) was employed to conduct the toxicological testing. The reproductive toxicity of PM2.5 to C. elegans in different seasons was evaluated by multiple reproductive endpoints. Exposure to high concentrations of PM2.5 significantly decreased the brood size and the number of fertilized eggs in utero. PM2.5 exposure also increased the number of germ cell corpses and caused abnormal expression of apoptosis-related genes (ced-9, ced-4, and ced-3), which confirmed that PM2.5 induced germline apoptosis. In addition, PM2.5 exposure significantly increased the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in C. elegans and the fluorescence intensity of HUS-1 protein in of transgenic strain WS1433. Meanwhile, the expression of genes related to DNA damage (cep-1, clk-2, egl-1, and hus-1) and oxidative stress (mev-1, isp-1, and gas-1) also significantly altered in C. elegans, suggesting induction of DNA damage and oxidative stress. According to Pearson correlation analyses, DNA damage and oxidative stress were significantly correlated with multi...