Exposure to boron trioxide nanoparticles and ions cause oxidative stress, DNA damage, and phenotypic alterations in Drosophila melanogaster as an in vivo model

Abstract

Boron trioxide nanoparticles (B 2 O 3 NPs) have recently been widely used in a range of applications including electronic device technologies, acousto-optic apparatus fields, and as nanopowder for the production of special glasses. We propose Drosophila melanogaster as a useful in vivo model system to study the genotoxic risks associated with NP exposure. In this study, we have conducted a genotoxic evaluation of B 2 O 3 NPs (size average 55.52 ± 1.41 nm) and its ionic form in D. melanogaster. B 2 O 3 NPs were supplied to third instar larvae at concentrations ranging from 0.1-10 mM. Toxicity, intracellular oxidative stress (reactive oxygen species, ROS), phenotypic alterations, genotoxic effect (via the wing somatic mutation and recombination test, SMART), and DNA damage (via Comet assay) were the end-points evaluated. B 2 O 3 NPs did not cause any mutagenic/recombinogenic effects in all tested non-toxic concentrations in Drosophila SMART. Negative data were also obtained with the ionic form. Exposure to B 2 O 3 NPs and its ionic form (at two highest concentrations, 2.5 and 5 mM) was found to induce DNA damage in Comet assay. Additionally, ROS induction in hemocytes and phenotypic alterations were determined in the mouths and legs of Drosophila. This study is the first study reporting genotoxicity data in the somatic cells of Drosophila larvae, emphasizing the importance of D. melanogaster as a model organism in investigating the different biological effects in a concentrationdependent manner caused by B 2 O 3 NPs and its ionic form. The obtained in vivo results contribute to improvement the genotoxicity database on the B 2 O 3 NPs.

Interactions of Ingested Polystyrene Microplastics with Heavy Metals (Cadmium or Silver) as Environmental Pollutants: A Comprehensive In Vivo Study Using Drosophila melanogaster

“…Moreover, pressure from the public and animal rights institutions has forced researchers to conduct in vitro studies instead of experimenting on mammals [ 8 , 55 , 56 ]. Therefore, they have recently resorted to using lower eukaryotic models such as fruit flies ( D. melanogaster) [ 7 , 57 , 58 ], zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) [ 59 , 60 ], and roundworms ( Caenorhabditis elegans ) [ 61 ]. Numerous studies have begun to carry out nanotoxicity and nanogenotoxicity experiments on D. melanogaster , using somatic cells as targets to assess harmful effects on exposed flies without waiting for subsequent generations.…”

In vivo evaluation of the neurogenotoxic effects of exposure to validamycin A in neuroblasts of Drosophila melanogaster larval brain

“…Prior to its utilization in the experiments, validamycin A was dissolved in sterile distilled water, which was used as a solvent control (Demir et al, 2022). For the Comet assay, 4 mM EMS was utilized as the positive control (Demir, 2022; Turna Demir & Demir, 2022a, 2022b, 2023), while 0.5 mM H 2 O 2 was employed to assess ROS (Demir, 2022; Turna Demir & Demir, 2022a, 2022b, 2023). Figure 1 shows the structural formula of validamycin A (https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/sial/32347).…”

“…DCFH2-DA is converted into the green fluorescent product 2 0 ,7 0 -dichlorofluorescein (DCF) inside cells that have ROS. Following our previous protocols, neuroblasts were harvested and incubated with 5 μM DCFH2-DA for 30 min at 24 C (Demir, 2022;Turna Demir & Demir, 2022a, 2022b, 2023. After the incubation period, ROS production levels were detected using fluorescence microscopy with a green filter (485 nm excitation and 528 nm emission) at 20Â magnification.…”