Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Medical School of the Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Nanoscale. 2013 Nov 21;5(22):11166-78. doi: 10.1039/c3nr03917j. Epub 2013 Oct 1.
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) can be translocated into the targeted organs of organisms. We employed a model organism of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate the role of a biological barrier at the primary targeted organs in regulating the translocation and toxicity formation of MWCNTs. A prolonged exposure to MWCNTs at predicted environmental relevant concentrations caused adverse effects associated with both the primary and secondary targeted organs on nematodes. The function of PEGylated modification in reducing MWCNTs toxicity might be mainly due to the suppression of their translocation into secondary targeted organs through the primary targeted organs. A biological barrier at the primary targeted organs contributed greatly to the control of MWCNTs translocation into secondary targeted organs, as indicated by functions of Mn-SODs required for prevention of oxidative stress in the primary targeted organs. Over-expression of Mn-SODs in primary targeted organs effectively suppressed the translocation and toxicity of MWCNTs. Our work highlights the crucial role of the biological barrier at the primary targeted organs in regulating the translocation and toxicity formation of MWCNTs. Our data also shed light on the future development of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) with improved biocompatibility and design of prevention strategies against ENMs toxicity.
多壁碳纳米管（MWCNTs）可以转移到生物体的目标器官中。我们采用线虫秀丽隐杆线虫作为模式生物，研究生物屏障在调节 MWCNTs 的转移和毒性形成中的作用。在预测的环境相关浓度下，MWCNTs 的长时间暴露会对线虫的主要和次要目标器官造成不利影响。PEG 修饰的功能可能主要是通过抑制 MWCNTs 进入次级靶器官，从而降低 MWCNTs 的毒性。初级靶器官的生物屏障对控制 MWCNTs 向次级靶器官的转移有很大的贡献，这是由于 Mn-SODs 在初级靶器官中预防氧化应激的功能。在初级靶器官中过表达 Mn-SODs 可以有效地抑制 MWCNTs 的转移和毒性。我们的工作强调了初级靶器官中的生物屏障在调节 MWCNTs 的转移和毒性形成中的关键作用。我们的数据还为具有改善的生物相容性的工程纳米材料（ENMs）的未来发展以及针对 ENMs 毒性的预防策略的设计提供了新的思路。
