title: Ingestion of gallium phosphide nanowires has no adverse effect on Drosophila tissue function.
abstract: Engineered nanoparticles have been under increasing scrutiny in recent years. High aspect ratio nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes and nanowires have raised safety concerns due to their geometrical similarity to asbestos fibers. III-V epitaxial semiconductor nanowires are expected to be utilized in devices such as LEDs and solar cells and will thus be available to the public. In addition, clean-room staff fabricating and characterizing the nanowires are at risk of exposure, emphasizing the importance of investigating their possible toxicity. Here we investigated the effects of gallium phosphide nanowires on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila larvae and/or adults were exposed to gallium phosphide nanowires by ingestion with food. The toxicity and tissue interaction of the nanowires was evaluated by investigating tissue distribution, activation of immune response, genome-wide gene expression, life span, fecundity and somatic mutation rates. Our results show that gallium phosphide nanowires applied through the diet are not taken up into Drosophila tissues, do not elicit a measurable immune response or changes in genome-wide gene expression and do not significantly affect life span or somatic mutation rate.
authors.affiliation: Division of Solid State Physics/The Nanometer Structure Consortium, Lund University, Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adolfsson
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Greger
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hammarin
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Häcker
authors.forename: Christelle N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Prinz
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004435:Eating; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects; D005708:Gallium / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007814:Larva / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008136:Longevity / Q000187:drug effects; D009154:Mutation / Q000187:drug effects; D053770:Nanowires / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010720:Phosphines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D010720:Phosphines; C485338:gallium phosphide; D012313:RNA; D005708:Gallium