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Nanoplastic Exposure at Predicted Environmental Concentrations Induces Activation of Germline Ephrin Signal Associated with Toxicity Formation in the Caenorhabditis elegans Offspring

Authors :
Yue Zhao
Xin Hua
Qian Bian
Dayong Wang
Source :
Toxics, Vol 10, Iss 11, p 699 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2022.

Abstract

In nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) at predicted environmental concentrations can cause induction of transgenerational toxicity. However, the underlying mechanisms for toxicity formation of PS-NP in the offspring remain largely unknown. In this study, based on high-throughput sequencing, Ephrin ligand EFN-3 was identified as a target of KSR-1/2 (two kinase suppressors of Ras) in the germline during the control of transgenerational PS-NP toxicity. At parental generation (P0-G), exposure to 0.1–10 μg/L PS-NP caused the increase in expression of germline efn-3, and this increase in germline efn-3 expression could be further detected in the offspring, such as F1-G and F2-G. Germline RNAi of efn-3 caused a resistance to transgenerational PS-NP toxicity, suggesting that the activation of germline EFN-3 at P0-G mediated transgenerational PS-NP toxicity. In the offspring, Ephrin receptor VAB-1 was further activated by the increased EFN-3 caused by PS-NP exposure at P0-G, and RNAi of vab-1 also resulted in resistance to transgenerational PS-NP toxicity. VAB-1 acted in both the neurons and the germline to control toxicity of PS-NP in the offspring. In the neurons, VAB-1 regulated PS-NP toxicity by suppressing expressions of DBL-1, JNK-1, MPK-1, and GLB-10. In the germline, VAB-1 regulated PS-NP toxicity by increasing NDK-1 and LIN-23 expressions and decreasing EGL-1 expression. Therefore, germline Ephrin ligand EFN-3 and its receptor VAB-1 acted together to mediate the formation of transgenerational PS-NP toxicity. Our data highlight the important role of activation in germline Ephrin signals in mediating transgenerational toxicity of nanoplastics at predicted environmental concentrations in organisms.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
23056304
Volume :
10
Issue :
11
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Toxics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.7bbfde901ee4e449756a15a16a0f976
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10110699