Project description:Nanoparticles are more and more used in industrial process, food, medicinal or daily goods. At the end of their life, most of them are discharged in the environment where they impact the ecological equilibrium. Bacteria are one of the first targets of the nanoparticles in the environment. To evaluate the impact of silver nanoparticles on the physiology of Bacillus subtilis, we studied the intracellular proteome of bacteria exposed to different nanoparticles during the stationary phase.
Project description:Silver nanoparticles cause toxicity in exposed organisms and are an environmental health concern. The mechanisms of silver nanoparticle toxicity, however, remain unclear. We examined the effects of exposure to silver in nano-, bulk- and ionic forms on zebrafish embryos (Danio rerio) using a Next Generation Sequencing approach in an Illumina platform (High-Throughput SuperSAGE). Significant alterations in gene expression were found for all treatments and many of the gene pathways affected, most notably those associated with oxidative phosphorylation and protein synthesis, overlapped strongly between the three treatments indicating similar mechanisms of toxicity for the three forms of silver studied. Changes in oxidative phosphorylation indicated a down-regulation of this pathway at 24h of exposure, but with a recovery at 48h. This finding was consistent with a dose-dependent decrease in oxygen consumption at 24h, but not at 48h, following exposure to silver ions. Overall, our data provide support for the hypothesis that the toxicity caused by silver nanoparticles is principally associated with bioavailable silver ions in exposed zebrafish embryos. These findings are important in the evaluation of the risk that silver particles may pose to exposed vertebrate organisms. mRNA profiles of whole zebrafish embryos at 24 and 48 hours post-fertilisation (hpf) exposed to silver in nano, bulk and ionic forms were generated by deep sequencing using HT-SuperSAGE (Illumina GA2).
Project description:Manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs) are increasingly incorporated into consumer products that are disposed into sewage. In wastewater treatment, MNMs adsorb to activated sludge biomass where they may impact biological wastewater treatment performance, including nutrient removal. Here, we studied MNM effects on bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), specifically polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), biosynthesis because of its importance to enhanced biological phosphorus (P) removal (EBPR). Activated sludge was sampled from an anoxic selector of a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), and PHB-containing bacteria were concentrated by density gradient centrifugation. After starvation to decrease intracellular PHB stores, bacteria were nutritionally augmented to promote PHB biosynthesis while being exposed to either MNMs (TiO2 or Ag) or to Ag salts (each at a concentration of 5 mg L-1). Cellular PHB concentration and PhyloChip community composition were analyzed. The final bacterial community composition differed from activated sludge, demonstrating that laboratory enrichment was selective. Still, PHB was synthesized to near-activated sludge levels. Ag salts altered final bacterial communities, although MNMs did not. PHB biosynthesis was diminished with Ag (salt or MNMs), indicating the potential for Ag-MNMs to physiologically impact EBPR through the effects of dissolved Ag ions on PHB producers. 18 samples; Triplicate PHB-enriched bacterial communities recovered from activated sludge were exposed to nanoparticle (TiO2 or Ag) or AgNO3 (as a silver control) or were not exposed to an nanoparticles (control) to determine if the naoparticles affected PHB production.
Project description:From the result of the gene expression analyses of human hepatoma cell line, HepG2, a number of genes associated with cell proliferation and DNA repair were distinctively up-regulated by Ag-nanoparticle exposure, suggesting that Ag-nanoparticles might stimulate cell proliferation and DNA damage, which are considered to be mechanisms playing an important role for carcinogenesis and tumor progression. The inductions of these genes involved in cell proliferation were also observed in PS-nanoparticles and Ag2CO3-exposed cells. In addition, the inductions of DNA repair-associated genes were also observed in Ag2CO3-exposure. These results suggest that both “nanoshape” and “silver” can cause the inductions of these gene expression patterns. Furthermore, cysteine, a strong ionic silver ligand partially abolished these gene expressions induced by silver nanoparticles. Ionic silver sourced from Ag-nanoparticles could not fully explain these gene expressions.
Project description:Custom D. magna gene expression microarray (Design ID: 023710, Agilent Technologies)were used to characterise gene expression profiles of Daphnia magna neoantes exposed to silver nanoparticles ( AgNPs ) or silver nitrate ( AgNO3 ) for 24 hours.
Project description:Infections associated with antimicrobial-resistant bacteria now represent a significant threat to human health using conventional therapy, necessitating the development of alternate and more effective antibacterial compounds. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have been proposed as potential antimicrobial agents to combat infections. A complete understanding of their antimicrobial activity is required before these molecules can be used in therapy. Lysozyme coated Ag NPs were synthesized and characterized by TEMEDS, XRD, UV-vis, FTIR spectroscopy, zeta potential, and oxidative potential assay. Biochemical assays and deep level transcriptional analysis using RNA sequencing were used to decipher how Ag NPs exert their antibacterial action against multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae MGH78578. RNAseq data revealed that Ag NPs induced a triclosan-like bactericidal mechanism responsible for the inhibition of the type II fatty acid biosynthesis. Additionally, released AgC generated oxidative stress both extra and intracellularly in K. pneumoniae. The data showed that triclosan-like activity and oxidative stress cumulatively underpinned the antibacterial activity of Ag NPs. This result was confirmed by the analysis of the bactericidal effect of Ag NPs against the isogenic K. pneumoniae MGH78578 1soxS mutant, which exhibits a compromised oxidative stress response compared to the wild type. Silver nanoparticles induce a triclosan like antibacterial action mechanism in multi-drug resistant K. pneumoniae. This study extends our understanding of anti-Klebsiella mechanisms associated with exposure to Ag NPs. This allowed us to model how bacteria might develop resistance against silver nanoparticles, should the latter be used in therapy.
Project description:The toxicity of silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles is hypothesised to be mediated by dissolved metal ions and cerium dioxide nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) are hypothesised to induce toxicity specifically by oxidative stress dependant on their surface redox state. To test these hypotheses, RNAseq was applied to characterise the molecular responses of cells to metal nanoparticle and metal ion exposures. The human epithelial lung carcinoma cell line A549 was exposed to different CeO2 NPs with different surface charges, micron-sized and nano-sized silver particles and silver ions, micron-sized and nano-sized zinc oxide particles and zinc ions, or control conditions, for 1 hour, 6 hours and 24 hours. Concentrations were the lower of either EC20 or 128 micrograms/mL. Transcriptional responses were characterised by RNAseq transcriptomics using an Illumina HiSeq2500 .
Project description:Silver nanoparticles cause toxicity in exposed organisms and are an environmental health concern. The mechanisms of silver nanoparticle toxicity, however, remain unclear. We examined the effects of exposure to silver in nano-, bulk- and ionic forms on zebrafish embryos (Danio rerio) using a Next Generation Sequencing approach in an Illumina platform (High-Throughput SuperSAGE). Significant alterations in gene expression were found for all treatments and many of the gene pathways affected, most notably those associated with oxidative phosphorylation and protein synthesis, overlapped strongly between the three treatments indicating similar mechanisms of toxicity for the three forms of silver studied. Changes in oxidative phosphorylation indicated a down-regulation of this pathway at 24h of exposure, but with a recovery at 48h. This finding was consistent with a dose-dependent decrease in oxygen consumption at 24h, but not at 48h, following exposure to silver ions. Overall, our data provide support for the hypothesis that the toxicity caused by silver nanoparticles is principally associated with bioavailable silver ions in exposed zebrafish embryos. These findings are important in the evaluation of the risk that silver particles may pose to exposed vertebrate organisms.
Project description:Myxococcus xanthus is a model organism to study the biosynthesis and secretion of polysaccharides. The exopolysaccharide (EPS) is synthesized and exported via the Wzx/Wzy-dependent EPS pathway. The phosphoglycosyl transferase EpsZ initiates EPS biosynthesis by transferring galactose-1-P to undecaprenyl phosphate. EPS biosynthesis is stimulated by the Dif chemosensory system through the single-domain response regulator EpsW, which is activated through phosphorylation by the DifE kinase. Importantly, the mechanism by which EpsW~P activates EPS biosynthesis is unknown. To investigate if EpsW regulates EPS biosynthesis at the transcriptional level, we extracted total RNA from vegetative cells of the wildtype and the ΔepsW mutant. Moreover, we extracted total RNA from vegetative cells of the ΔepsZ and ΔdifE mutants to investigate the effects of EpsZ and DifE on the transcriptome.