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Citrate gold nanoparticle exposure in the marine bivalve Ruditapes philippinarum: uptake, elimination and oxidative stress response

  • Molecular and cellular effects of contamination in aquatic ecosystems
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Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are considered an important nano-sized component of the twenty-first century. Due to their unique physical and chemical properties, they are being used and developed for a wide range of promising applications in medicine, biology and chemistry. Notwithstanding their useful aspects, in recent years concern has been raised over their ability to enter cells, organelles and nuclei and provoke oxidative stress. In a laboratory-based experiment, the non-target marine bivalve Ruditapes philippinarum was used as a model organism. Uptake, elimination and molecular effects under short-term and sub-chronic exposure conditions to an environmental relevant concentration (0.75 μg L−1) of weakly agglomerating citrate AuNPs (∼20 nm) were studied. Our results demonstrate that at the tested concentration, the particles are readily taken up into the digestive gland > gills and can produce significant changes (p < 0.05) in oxidative stress and inflammatory response markers, as measured by phase II antioxidant enzymes and q-PCR gene expression analysis. However, the overall magnitude of responses was low, and oxidative damage was not provoked. Further, a significant elimination of Au from the digestive tract within a 7-day purification period was observed, with excretion being an important pathway. In conclusion, short-term and sub-chronic exposure to an environmental relevant concentration of citrate-stabilized AuNPs cannot be considered toxic to our model organism, while some further consideration should be given to chronic exposure effects.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the regional government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía) project PE2011-RNM-7812 and the Spanish government Plan Nacional I+D+I project CTM2012-3872-C03-03, as well as supported by the Erasmus Mundus Ph.D. fellowship in Marine and Coastal Management to M. V. (as coordinated by the University of Cadiz, Spain). The authors would also like to thank Carlos García Negrete and Asunción Fernández Camacho of the Institute of Materials Science of Sevilla (CSIC-University of Seville, Spain), Laura Martín-Díaz from the Andalusian Centre for Science and Marine Technologies (CACYTMAR) – University of Cadiz (Spain), as well as Maria João Bebianno and Tânia Gomes from the Centre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIMA) - University of the Algarve (Portugal) for their assistance.

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All authors declare to have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucia (CSIC), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain

    Moritz Volland, Juan A. Martos-Sitcha, Chiara Trombini, Gonzalo Martínez-Rodríguez & Julián Blasco

  2. Department for Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cadiz, Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain

    Miriam Hampel

  3. Andalusian Center of Marine Science and Technology (CACYTMAR), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain

    Miriam Hampel

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  1. Moritz Volland
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  2. Miriam Hampel
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  3. Juan A. Martos-Sitcha
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Correspondence to Moritz Volland.

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Volland, M., Hampel, M., Martos-Sitcha, J.A. et al. Citrate gold nanoparticle exposure in the marine bivalve Ruditapes philippinarum: uptake, elimination and oxidative stress response. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 17414–17424 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4718-x

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