TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing potential harmful effects of CdSe quantum dots by using Drosophila melanogaster as in vivo model
AU - Alaraby, Mohamed
AU - Demir, Esref
AU - Hernández, Alba
AU - Marcos, Ricard
PY - 2015/10/5
Y1 - 2015/10/5
N2 - © 2015 Elsevier B.V. Since CdSe QDs are increasingly used in medical and pharmaceutical sciences careful and systematic studies to determine their biosafety are needed. Since in vivo studies produce relevant information complementing in vitro data, we promote the use of Drosophila melanogaster as a suitable in vivo model to detect toxic and genotoxic effects associated with CdSe QD exposure. Taking into account the potential release of cadmium ions, QD effects were compared with those obtained with CdCl2. Results showed that CdSe QDs penetrate the intestinal barrier of the larvae reaching the hemolymph, interacting with hemocytes, and inducing dose/time dependent significant genotoxic effects, as determined by the comet assay. Elevated ROS production, QD biodegradation, and significant disturbance in the conserved Hsps, antioxidant and p53 genes were also observed. Overall, QD effects were milder than those induced by CdCl2 suggesting the role of Cd released ions in the observed harmful effects of Cd based QDs. To reduce the observed side-effects of Cd based QDs biocompatible coats would be required to avoid cadmium's undesirable effects.
AB - © 2015 Elsevier B.V. Since CdSe QDs are increasingly used in medical and pharmaceutical sciences careful and systematic studies to determine their biosafety are needed. Since in vivo studies produce relevant information complementing in vitro data, we promote the use of Drosophila melanogaster as a suitable in vivo model to detect toxic and genotoxic effects associated with CdSe QD exposure. Taking into account the potential release of cadmium ions, QD effects were compared with those obtained with CdCl2. Results showed that CdSe QDs penetrate the intestinal barrier of the larvae reaching the hemolymph, interacting with hemocytes, and inducing dose/time dependent significant genotoxic effects, as determined by the comet assay. Elevated ROS production, QD biodegradation, and significant disturbance in the conserved Hsps, antioxidant and p53 genes were also observed. Overall, QD effects were milder than those induced by CdCl2 suggesting the role of Cd released ions in the observed harmful effects of Cd based QDs. To reduce the observed side-effects of Cd based QDs biocompatible coats would be required to avoid cadmium's undesirable effects.
KW - CdSe QDs
KW - Comet assay
KW - Drosophila melanogaster
KW - Hemocytes
KW - Wing-spot assay
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.069
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.069
M3 - Article
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 530-531
SP - 66
EP - 75
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
ER -