Eliso Maria Concetta, Corsi Ilaria, Spagnuolo Antonietta, Dumollard Rémi
Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80121 Naples, Italy.
J Xenobiot. 2025 Jan 10;15(1):10. doi: 10.3390/jox15010010.
Nanoplastics pose a growing threat to marine ecosystems, particularly affecting the early developmental stages of marine organisms. This study investigates the effects of amino-modified polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NH, 50 nm) on the embryonic development of , a model ascidian species. Both chorionated and dechorionated embryos were exposed to increasing concentrations of PS-NH so morphological alterations could be assessed with a high-content analysis of the phenotypes and genotoxicity. PS-NH induced the same morphological alterations in both chorionated and dechorionated embryos, with dechorionated embryos being more sensitive (EC = 3.0 μg mL) than chorionated ones (EC = 6.26 μg mL). Interestingly, results from the morphological analysis showed two concentration-dependent mechanisms of action: (i) at concentrations near the EC, neurodevelopmental abnormalities resembling the ones induced by exposure to known endocrine disruptors (EDs) were observed, and (ii) at higher concentrations (15 μg mL and 7.5 μg mL for chorionated and dechorionated embryos, respectively), a nonspecific toxicity was evident, likely due to general oxidative stress. The phenotypes resulting from the PS-NH treatment were not related to DNA damage, as revealed by a genotoxicity assay performed on neurula embryos. Our data suggest that PS-NH-induced toxicity is primarily mediated through oxidative stress, probably triggered by interactions between the positive charges of the PS NPs and the negative charges on the cell membranes. The lack of a protective chorion further exacerbated these effects, highlighting its role in mitigating/protecting against NP-induced damage.
纳米塑料对海洋生态系统构成的威胁日益严重，尤其会影响海洋生物的早期发育阶段。本研究调查了氨基修饰的聚苯乙烯纳米颗粒（PS-NH，50纳米）对一种模式海鞘物种胚胎发育的影响。将带卵膜和去卵膜的胚胎暴露于浓度不断增加的PS-NH中，以便通过对表型和遗传毒性进行高内涵分析来评估形态学改变。PS-NH在带卵膜和去卵膜的胚胎中均诱导了相同的形态学改变，其中去卵膜胚胎比带卵膜胚胎更敏感（半数效应浓度EC = 3.0微克/毫升）（带卵膜胚胎的EC = 6.26微克/毫升）。有趣的是，形态学分析结果显示出两种浓度依赖性作用机制：（i）在接近半数效应浓度的浓度下，观察到了类似于暴露于已知内分泌干扰物（EDs）所诱导的神经发育异常，以及（ii）在较高浓度下（带卵膜胚胎为15微克/毫升，去卵膜胚胎为7.5微克/毫升），明显出现了非特异性毒性，这可能是由于一般氧化应激所致。对神经胚期胚胎进行的遗传毒性试验表明，PS-NH处理所产生的表型与DNA损伤无关。我们的数据表明，PS-NH诱导的毒性主要通过氧化应激介导，这可能是由PS纳米颗粒的正电荷与细胞膜上的负电荷之间的相互作用引发的。缺乏保护性卵膜进一步加剧了这些影响，凸显了其在减轻/抵御纳米颗粒诱导损伤方面的作用。
