Genomic and oxidation-related biological responses in fish exposed to fullerenes of different physicochemical characteristics

纳米材料(虽然对环境并不新鲜)在一系列产品中发挥着越来越大的作用，但对它们在环境中生物体内的潜在吸收和毒性了解甚少。形状、大小和表面化学在确定分布和潜在毒性方面的重要性已被认识到。我们希望研究一组纳米材料(富勒烯或巴克球)对鱼类的影响，这些材料每年生产几吨。据报道，富勒烯会造成毒性(氧化应激)，特别是在暴露的鱼的大脑中，但证据尚不清楚，可能还没有检测到其他潜在的影响。因此，要了解这些影响，特别重要的是使用“开放”技术(基因组学)评估暴露组织的一般健康状况，而不是关注任何一个参数或过程。此外，我们需要知道富勒烯等试剂的物理化学参数(例如大小、聚集体结构和表面修饰)是否会改变生物体的反应。这项应用是一项小型探索性研究，目的是确定刺鱼对以不同结构形式提供给鱼类的富勒烯的生物反应，并通过试点研究，通过分析表达的基因的变化，确定特定器官的基因表达变化，作为与氧化应激或其他(尚未认识的)生物过程相关的体内过程紊乱的指标。这一小型应用符合环境纳米科学倡议(ENI)的范围，因为它考虑了以不同格式提供给水的模型纳米材料的相对一般环境风险。这项研究是跨学科的，将毒理学和基因组学方法结合在一起，与参与纳米颗粒研究的化学家合作，并与环境局建立联系

Nanosized materials (though not new to the environment) play an increasing role in a range of products, however their potential uptake and toxicity in organisms in the environment is poorly understood. The importance of shape, size and surface chemistry has been recognised in determining distribution and potential toxicity. We wish to study the effect in fish of a subset of nanomaterials (fullerenes or buckyballs) that are produced in several tons per year. It has been reported that fullerenes cause toxicity (oxidative stress) particularly in the brain of exposed fish, however the evidence is not clear and there are other potential effects that may not have been detected. Therefore, to understand such effects it is particularly important to assess the generic health status of exposed tissues using an 'open' technology (genomics) rather than focusing on any one parameter or process. Moreover, we need to know if physicochemical parameters (e.g. size , aggregate structure and surface modifications) of agents such as the fullerenes can alter responses in organisms. This application is for a small exploratory study to establish the biological response of stickleback fish to fullerenes presented to fish in different structural formats and , through pilot studies, to establish organ-specific changes in gene expression as indicators of disturbance of processes in the body associated with oxidative stress or with other (as yet unrecognized) biological processes through analysis of the changes in the genes being expressed. This small application fits the remit of the Environmental Nanoscience Initiative (ENI) as it considers the comparative generic environmental risk of model nanomaterials presented to water in different formats. The study is interdisciplinary bringing together toxicology and genomic approaches, collaboration with a chemist involved in nanoparticles research and linking to the Environment Agency