title: Liver Toxicity of Cadmium Telluride Quantum Dots (CdTe QDs) Due to Oxidative Stress in Vitro and in Vivo.
abstract: With the applications of quantum dots (QDs) expanding, many studies have described the potential adverse effects of QDs, yet little attention has been paid to potential toxicity of QDs in the liver. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of cadmium telluride (CdTe) QDs in mice and murine hepatoma cells alpha mouse liver 12 (AML 12). CdTe QDs administration significantly increased the level of lipid peroxides marker malondialdehyde (MDA) in the livers of treated mice. Furthermore, CdTe QDs caused cytotoxicity in AML 12 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, which was likely mediated through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the induction of apoptosis. An increase in ROS generation with a concomitant increase in the gene expression of the tumor suppressor gene p53, the pro-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 and a decrease in the anti-apoptosis gene Bax, suggested that a mitochondria mediated pathway was involved in CdTe QDs' induced apoptosis. Finally, we showed that NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) deficiency blocked induced oxidative stress to protect cells from injury induced by CdTe QDs. These findings provide insights into the regulatory mechanisms involved in the activation of Nrf2 signaling that confers protection against CdTe QDs-induced apoptosis in hepatocytes.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. zhangting1207@gmail.com.|Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. zhangting1207@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. huyuanyuan1122@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. tm@seu.edu.cn.|Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. tm@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. konglu@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. yingjiali1020@163.com.
authors.forename: Jiali
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. ninatswu@126.com.|Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. ninatswu@126.com.
authors.forename: Tianshu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. yyxue@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. yppu@seu.edu.cn.|Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. yppu@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuepu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000032:analysis; D051379:Mice; D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D045663:Quantum Dots / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000032:analysis; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013691:Tellurium / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2; C495636:Nfe2l2 protein, mouse; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D013691:Tellurium; C028337:cadmium telluride
keywords: Nrf2; oxidative stress; quantum dots; toxicity mechanisms