Aquatic Ecology, Department of Biology, Ecology Building, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden.
Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Center for Molecular Protein Science, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, 221 00, Lund, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2021 May 24;11(1):10784. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-90053-5.
As the use of engineered nanomaterials increases, so does the risk of them spreading to natural ecosystems. Hitherto, knowledge regarding the toxic properties of nanoparticles (NP's) and their potential interactions with natural bio-organic molecules adsorbed to them, and thereby forming surface coronas, is limited. However, we show here that the toxic effect of NPs of tungsten carbide cobalt (WC-Co) and cobalt (Co) on the crustacean Daphnia magna is postponed in the presence of natural biological degradation products (eco-corona biomolecules). For Daphnia exposed to WC-Co NPs the survival time increased with 20-25% and for Co NPs with 30-47% after mixing the particles with a solution of eco-corona biomolecules before exposure. This suggests that an eco-corona, composed of biomolecules always present in natural ecosystems, reduces the toxic potency of both studied NPs. Further, the eco-coronas did not affect the particle uptake, suggesting that the reduction in toxicity was related to the particle-organism interaction after eco-corona formation. In a broader context, this implies that although the increasing use and production of NPs may constitute a novel, global environmental threat, the acute toxicity and long-term effects of some NPs will, at least under certain conditions, be reduced as they enter natural ecosystems.
随着工程纳米材料的使用增加，它们传播到自然生态系统的风险也在增加。迄今为止，关于纳米颗粒（NP）的毒性特性及其与吸附在其上的天然生物有机分子的潜在相互作用，从而形成表面冠状物的知识是有限的。然而，我们在这里表明，在存在天然生物降解产物（生态冠状生物分子）的情况下，碳化钨钴（WC-Co）和钴（Co）纳米颗粒对甲壳类动物大型溞（Daphnia magna）的毒性作用会被推迟。对于暴露于 WC-Co NPs 的大型溞，暴露前将颗粒与生态冠状生物分子溶液混合后，其存活时间增加了 20-25%，对于 Co NPs 则增加了 30-47%。这表明，由天然生态系统中始终存在的生物分子组成的生态冠状物降低了两种研究的 NP 的毒性效力。此外，生态冠状物不会影响颗粒的摄取，这表明毒性降低与生态冠状物形成后颗粒与生物体的相互作用有关。从更广泛的角度来看，这意味着尽管纳米材料的使用和生产不断增加可能构成新的全球环境威胁，但在某些条件下，进入自然生态系统后，一些 NP 的急性毒性和长期影响将至少会降低。
