title: Markers for toxicity to HepG2 exposed to cadmium sulphide quantum dots; damage to mitochondria.
abstract: Interaction of living organisms with quantum dots (QDs) is certainly more focused on environment and occupational exposure associated with production and release or disposal. Here, the transcription of genes involved in mitochondrial organization and function in HepG2 cells exposed to cadmium sulphide (CdS) QDs has been profiled to highlight biomarkers of exposure and effect to be tested for other cadmium based QDs. At low concentrations, exposure to CdS QDs induced only minor damage to nuclear DNA, and none to mitochondrial DNA. However, the stress caused an increase in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which triggered the mitochondria-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway involving a cascade of transcriptomic events, finally prompting the activation of a rescue pathway. The transcriptomic analysis confirmed the involvement in the response to CdS QDs of genes related to apoptosis (AIFM2 and APAF1), oxidative stress response (OXR1 and AOX1) and autophagy (ATG3 and ATG7), as potential biomarkers. Other possible biomarkers specific for mitochondria function were LONP1 and HSPD1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. Electronic address: laura.paesano@libero.it.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Paesano
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. Electronic address: alessio.perotti@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. Electronic address: annamaria.buschini@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buschini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical, Biotechnological and Traslational Sciences (S.Bi.Bi.T), University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43126 Parma, Italy. Electronic address: cecilia.carubbi@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carubbi
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. Electronic address: marta.marmiroli@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marmiroli
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. Electronic address: elena.maestri@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maestri
authors.affiliation: Istituto dei Materiali per l'Elettronica ed il Magnetismo (IMEM-CNR), Parco Area delle Scienze 37/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. Electronic address: iannotta@imem.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iannotta
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. Electronic address: nelson.marmiroli@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marmiroli
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D015415:Biomarkers; D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects; D004247:DNA / Q000187:drug effects; D056915:DNA Copy Number Variations / Q000187:drug effects; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000187:drug effects; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D045663:Quantum Dots / Q000633:toxicity*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D013440:Sulfides / Q000633:toxicity*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013440:Sulfides; C034939:cadmium sulfide; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D004247:DNA; D005978:Glutathione
keywords: Gene expression; Nanotoxicity; Physiological and morphological analysis; Quantitative RT-PCR