title: The Use of the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to Evaluate the Adverse Effects of Epoxiconazole Exposure on Spermatogenesis.
abstract: There is increasing evidence that epoxiconazole exposure can affect reproductive function, but few studies have investigated adverse effects on spermatogenesis. The nematodeCaenorhabditis elegans(C. elegans) was used in our study to assess effects of epoxiconazole on spermatogenesis in male nematodes after 48 h of exposure to concentrations of 0.1, 1.0, or 10.0 μg/L. The results demonstrated that epoxiconazole exposure affected spermatogenesis, decreasing the number of total germ cells, mitotic cells, meiotic cells and spermatids, spermatid diameter, and cross-sectional area, and inducing mitotic germ cell proliferation arrest, premature entry into meiosis, and sperm activation inhibition; however, sperm transfer showed no abnormal changes. In addition, the results showed that epoxiconazole activated the transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) signaling pathway and increased the expression levels of genedaf-1,daf-3,daf-4,daf-5anddaf-7in nematodes. We therefore propose that epoxiconazole acts by activating the TGFβ signaling pathway, leading to the impairment of spermatogenesis and the consequent decline in male fertility.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China. yhli@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yunhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China. mhzhang@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Minhui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, NY 10461, USA. Shaojun.li@einstein.yu.edu.
authors.forename: Shaojun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China. rronglv@163.com.
authors.forename: Rongrong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, NY 10461, USA. Pan.Chen@einstein.yu.edu.
authors.forename: Pan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China. ranliu@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China. lianggeyu@163.com.
authors.forename: Geyu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China. lhyin@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lihong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000187:drug effects; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000187:drug effects; D014230:Triazoles / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D014230:Triazoles; C109476:epoxiconazole
keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; TGF-β; epoxiconazole; spermatogenesis