title: Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model for Toxic Effects of Nanoparticles: Lethality, Growth, and Reproduction.
abstract: The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is extensively utilized in toxicity studies. C. elegans offers a high degree of homology with higher organisms, and its ease of use and relatively inexpensive maintenance have made it an attractive complement to mammalian and ecotoxicological models. C. elegans provides multiple benefits, including the opportunity to perform relatively high-throughput assays on whole organisms, a wide range of genetic tools permitting investigation of mechanisms and genetic sensitivity, and transparent bodies that facilitate toxicokinetic studies. This unit describes protocols for three nanotoxicity assays in C. elegans: lethality, growth, and reproduction. This unit focuses on how to use these well-established assays with nanoparticles, which are being produced in ever-increasing volume and exhibit physicochemical properties that require alteration of standard toxicity assays. These assays permit a broad phenotypic assessment of nanotoxicity in C. elegans, and, when used in combination with genetic tools and other assays, also permit mechanistic insight.
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Laura L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Ian T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Ryde
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Joel N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development*; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; growth inhibition; lethality; nanoparticles; reproductive toxicity