earticle

영어

The application of nanoparticles (NPs) in various fields has been growing rapidly due to its exceptional physicochemical properties. The potential biological or environmental toxicity of NPs, however, has been frequently reported. In this study, the toxicity of nC60 and nC60-OH NPs in Caenorhabditis elegans was assessed through the measurement of lifespan and brood size. The water-stable colloids form of nC60 NPs are prepared through the long-term exposure of fullerene, C60 in toluene. C. elegans is a free-living soil nematode feeding on bacteria such as Escherichia coli. We confirmed that the oral-administrated NPs were accumulated in the animals for several days after feeding the mixture of bacterial food and nC60 or nC60-OH NPs to the L4 larvas of C. elegans. The nC60-OH NPs reduced the viability of animals while no decrease in survival was found in the animals fed with nC60. We have also found that both nC60 and nC60-OH reduced the reproduction of C.
elegans. In order to illuminate the genetic mechanism of toxicity induced by those NPs, the assessment of viability and fertility was carried out using the strains mutated in oxidative stress or programmed cell death regulators.