Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsovej 25, PO BOX 314, DK-8600 Silkeborg, Denmark.
Environ Pollut. 2019 Feb;245:131-140. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.123. Epub 2018 Nov 1.
Nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) have an estimated production of ca. 20 tons per year in the US. Nickel has been risk-assessed for long in Europe, but not NiNPs, hence the concern for the environment. In the present study, we focused on investigating the mechanisms of toxicity of NiNPs and the comparison to NiNO. The high-throughput microarray for the soil ecotox model Enchytraeus crypticus (Oligochaeta) was used. To anchor gene to phenotype effect level, organisms were exposed to reproduction effect concentrations EC20 and EC50, for 3 and 7 days. Results showed commonly affected pathways between NiNPs and NiNO, including increase in proteolysis, apoptosis and inflammatory response, and interference with the nervous system. Mechanisms unique to NiNO were also observed (e.g. glutathione synthesis). No specific mechanisms for NiNPs were found, which could indicate that longer exposure period (>7 days) is required to capture the peak response to NiNPs. A mechanisms scheme is assembled, showing both common and unique mechanisms to NiNO and NiNPs, providing an important framework for further, more targeted, studies.
镍纳米颗粒（NiNPs）在美国的预估年产量约为 20 吨。镍在欧洲已经进行了长期的风险评估，但 NiNPs 没有，因此人们对环境表示担忧。在本研究中，我们专注于研究 NiNPs 的毒性机制，并将其与 NiNO 进行比较。我们使用了土壤生态毒理学模型 Enchytraeus crypticus（寡毛纲）的高通量微阵列。为了将基因与表型效应水平联系起来，将生物体暴露于生殖效应浓度 EC20 和 EC50 下，分别暴露 3 天和 7 天。结果表明，NiNPs 和 NiNO 之间存在共同受影响的途径，包括蛋白水解、细胞凋亡和炎症反应增加，以及对神经系统的干扰。还观察到 NiNO 特有的机制（例如谷胱甘肽合成）。没有发现 NiNPs 特有的机制，这可能表明需要更长的暴露时间（>7 天）来捕捉对 NiNPs 的峰值反应。组装了一个机制方案，显示了 NiNO 和 NiNPs 的共同和独特机制，为进一步更有针对性的研究提供了重要框架。
