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The toxic heavy metal antimony (Sb) is ubiquitous in our daily lives. Various models have shown that Sb induces neuronal and reproductive toxicity. However, little is known about the developmental toxicity of Sb exposure during gestation and the underlying mechanisms. To study its effects on growth and development, Drosophila stages from eggs to pupae were exposed to different Sb concentrations (0, 0.3, 0.6 and 1.2 mg/mL Sb); RNA sequencing was used to identify the underlying mechanism. The model revealed that prenatal Sb exposure significantly reduced larval body size and weight, the pupation and eclosion rates, and the number of flies at all stages. With 1.2 mg/mL Sb exposure in 3rd instar larvae, 484 genes were upregulated and 694 downregulated compared to controls. Biological analysis showed that the disrupted transcripts were related to the oxidative stress pathway, as verified by reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and glutathione (GSH) intervention experiments. Sb exposure induced oxidative stress imbalance could be rectified by chelation and antioxidant effects of NAC/GSH. The Drosophila Schneider 2 (S2) model further demonstrated that NAC and GSH greatly ameliorated cell death induced by Sb exposure. In conclusion, gestational Sb exposure disrupted oxidative stress homeostasis, thereby impairing growth and development., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The increasing production and prevalence of antimony (Sb)-related products raise concerns regarding its potential hazards to reproductive health. Upon environmental exposure, Sb reportedly induces testicular toxicity during spermatogenesis; moreover, it is known to affect various testicular cell populations, particularly germline stem cell populations. However, the cell-cell communication resulting from Sb exposure within the testicular niche remains poorly understood. To address this gap, herein we analyzed testicular single-cell RNA sequencing data from Sb-exposed Drosophila. Our findings revealed that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and WNT signaling pathways were associated with the stem cell niche in Drosophila testes, which may disrupt the homeostasis of the testicular niche in Drosophila. Furthermore, we identified several ligand-receptor pairs, facilitating the elucidation of intercellular crosstalk involved in Sb-mediated reproductive toxicology. We employed scRNA-seq analysis and conducted functional verification to investigate the expression patterns of core downstream factors associated with EGFR and WNT signatures in the testes under the influence of Sb exposure. Altogether, our results shed light on the potential mechanisms of Sb exposure-mediated testicular cell-lineage communications. [Display omitted] • Antimony exposure altered intercellular communication networks in Drosophila. • Number of enriched ligand-receptor pairs was reduced among germline stem cell niche. • EGFR signaling was weakened, affecting soma-soma and soma-germline interactions. • WNT signaling was inhibited, causing germline stem cell niche disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]