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Review: Morphofunctional and biochemical markers of stress in sea urchin life stages exposed to engineered nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Gambardella Chiara,
Ferrando Sara,
Gatti Antonietta M.,
Cataldi Edoardo,
Ramoino Paola,
Aluigi Maria Grazia,
Faimali Marco,
Diaspro Alberto,
Falugi Carla
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
environmental toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1522-7278
pISSN - 1520-4081
DOI - 10.1002/tox.22159
Subject(s) - paracentrotus lividus , sea urchin , echinoderm , toxicity , coelom , biology , sperm , immune system , viability assay , microplastics , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , biochemistry , anatomy , ecology , immunology , botany , organic chemistry
We describe the use of different life stages of the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus for the assessment of the possible risk posed by nanoparticles (NPs) in the coastal water. A first screening for the presence of NPs in sea water may be obtained by checking their presence inside tissues of organisms taken from the wild. The ability of NPs to pass from gut to the coelomic fluid is demonstrated by accumulation in sea urchin coelomocytes; the toxicity on sperms can be measured by embryotoxicity markers after sperm exposure, whereas the transfer through the food chain can be observed by developmental anomalies in larvae fed with microalgae exposed to NPs. The most used spermiotoxicity and embryotoxicity tests are described, as well as the biochemical and histochemical analyses of cholinesterase (ChE) activities, which are used to verify toxicity parameters such as inflammation, neurotoxicity, and interference in cell‐to‐cell communication. Morphological markers of toxicity, in particular skeletal anomalies, are described and classified. In addition, NPs may impair viability of the immune cells of adult specimens. Molecular similarity between echinoderm and human immune cells is shown and discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 31: 1552–1562, 2016.