title: Aflatoxin B₁-Induced Developmental and DNA Damage in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) is a ubiquitous mycotoxin produced by toxicogenicAspergillusspecies. AFB₁ has been reported to cause serious adverse health effects, such as cancers and abnormal development and reproduction, in animals and humans. AFB₁ is also a potent genotoxic mutagen that causes DNA damage in vitro and in vivo. However, the link between DNA damage and abnormal development and reproduction is unclear. To address this issue, we examined the DNA damage, germline apoptosis, growth, and reproductive toxicity following exposure to AFB₁, usingCaenorhabditis elegansas a study model. Results found that AFB₁ induced DNA damage and germline apoptosis, and significantly inhibited growth and reproduction of the nematodes in a concentration-dependent manner. Exposure to AFB₁ inhibited growth or reproduction more potently in the DNA repair-deficientxpa-1nematodes than the wild-type N2 strain. According to the relative expression level of pathway-related genes measured by real-time PCR, the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway was found to be associated with AFB₁-induced germline apoptosis, which further played an essential role in the dysfunction of growth and reproduction inC. elegans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. sollis308@hotmail.com.|Wuxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuxi 214023, Jiangsu, China. sollis308@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Wei-Hong
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. ksxue@uga.edu.
authors.forename: Kathy S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. ltang@uga.edu.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. pwilliam@uga.edu.
authors.forename: Phillip L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. jswang@uga.edu.
authors.forename: Jia-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D016604:Aflatoxin B1 / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects; D051760:Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group A Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C553374:XPA-1 protein, C elegans; D051760:Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group A Protein; D016604:Aflatoxin B1
keywords: Aflatoxin B1; Caenorhabditis elegans; DNA damage response; apoptosis; growth and reproductive toxicity