The In Vivo Toxicity Assessments of Water-Dispersed Fluorescent Silicon Nanoparticles in Caenorhabditis elegans

Qin Wang, Yi Zhu, Bin Song, Rong Fu and Yanfeng Zhou
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Qin Wang: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Institutes of Biology and Medical Sciences (IBMS), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
Yi Zhu: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Institutes of Biology and Medical Sciences (IBMS), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
Bin Song: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
Rong Fu: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Institutes of Biology and Medical Sciences (IBMS), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
Yanfeng Zhou: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-13

Abstract: Fluorescent silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs), resembling a typical zero-dimensional silicon nanomaterial, have shown great potential in a wide range of biological and biomedical applications. However, information regarding the toxicity of this material in live organisms is still very scarce. In this study, we utilized Caenorhabditis elegans ( C. elegans ), a simple but biologically and anatomically well-described model, as a platform to systematically investigate the in vivo toxicity of SiNPs in live organisms at the whole-animal, cellular, subcellular, and molecular levels. We calculated the effect of SiNPs on C. elegans body length (N ≥ 75), lifespan (N ≥ 30), reproductive capacity (N ≥ 10), endocytic sorting (N ≥ 20), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress (N ≥ 20), mitochondrial stress (N ≥ 20), oxidative stress (N ≥ 20), immune response (N ≥ 20), apoptosis (N ≥ 200), hypoxia response (N ≥ 200), metal detoxification (N ≥ 200), and aging (N ≥ 200). The studies showed that SiNPs had no significant effect on development, lifespan, or reproductive ability ( p > 0.05), even when the worms were treated with a high concentration (e.g., 50 mg/mL) of SiNPs at all growth and development stages. Subcellular analysis of the SiNP-treated worms revealed that the intracellular processes of the C. elegans intestine were not disturbed by the presence of SiNPs ( p > 0.05). Toxicity analyses at the molecular level also demonstrated that the SiNPs did not induce harmful or defensive cellular events, such as ER stress, mitochondria stress, or oxidative stress ( p > 0.05). Together, these findings confirmed that the SiNPs are low in toxicity and biocompatible, supporting the suggestion that the material is an ideal fluorescent nanoprobe for wide-ranging biological and biomedical applications.

Keywords: fluorescent silicon nanoparticles; C. elegans; toxicity; in vivo; endoplasmic reticulum stress; mitochondria stress; oxidative stress; endocytic sorting; host defense (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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