earticle

영어

The nanoparticles (NPs) have been used in a variety of fields due to their authentic physicochemical properties. Biological or environmental toxicity of NPs, however, has not been fully understood. In this study, the toxicity of water stable fullerene colloids, nC60 and fullerol, C60-OH NPs was assessed in Caenorhabditis elegans 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 in THF followed by repeated dialysis with water. C. elegans is a free-living soil nematode feeding on bacteria such as Escherichia coli. We have found that the oral-administrated NPs were accumulated in the animals for several days after feeding the mixture of bacterial food and nC60 or C60-OH NPs to the L4 larvas of C. elegans. The fullerol NPs reduced the viability of animals while no decrease in survival was found in the animals fed with nC60. It was also found that both nC60 and C60-OH diminished 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, apoptosis regulators such as CED-3, CED-4, and EGL-1.