Unconventional Computing Laboratory, University of the West of England, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK.
Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK.
Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 20;9(1):8957. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45353-2.
As the extent to which aquatic environments are polluted with nano-scale objects is becoming known, we are presented with an urgent need to study their effects on various forms of life and to clear and/or detoxify them. A range of methods exist to these ends, but a lack of inter-study comparability arising from an absence of experimental standardisation impedes progress. Here we present experiments that demonstrate measurement of orchestrated uptake and clearance of two environmentally-relevant nano- and micromaterials by a model aquatic microoraganism, Paramecium caudatum. Experiments were based on a simple, modular, multi-chamber platform that permits standardised control of organism behaviour and measurement of variables relevant to the study of nanotoxicology, including nanomaterial chemotaxis assays, bioaccumulation and deleterious effects on cell motility systems. Uptake of internalised materials may be estimated through the addition of a low-cost fluorescence spectrometer. P. caudatum cells can clear an estimated 0.7 fg of contaminant materials (or 161 of the particles used) per cell over a 5 mm distance per 6 hour experiment, whilst suffering few short-term adverse effects, suggesting that the organism and the platform used to investigate their properties are well-suited to a range of laboratory and field-based nanotoxicological studies.
随着水生环境被纳米级物体污染的程度逐渐被人们所了解，我们迫切需要研究它们对各种生命形式的影响，并对其进行清除和/或解毒。为此存在多种方法，但由于缺乏实验标准化，导致研究之间缺乏可比性，从而阻碍了进展。在这里，我们展示了一些实验，这些实验证明了通过一种模型水生微生物 Paramecium caudatum 来协调摄取和清除两种与环境相关的纳米和微米材料的实验。实验基于一个简单、模块化、多腔室平台，该平台可以标准化控制生物行为并测量与纳米毒理学研究相关的变量，包括纳米材料趋化性测定、生物累积和对细胞运动系统的有害影响。通过添加低成本荧光光谱仪可以估计内化物质的摄取量。P. caudatum 细胞在 6 小时的实验中可以每细胞清除估计 0.7 fg 的污染物材料（或使用的 161 个颗粒），距离为 5 mm，同时几乎没有短期的不利影响，这表明该生物体和用于研究其性质的平台非常适合一系列实验室和现场纳米毒理学研究。
