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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Mater Horiz. 2017 May 3;4(5):719–746. doi: 10.1039/C7MH00166E

Figure 14. Use of a genetic approach to test a mitochondrial mechanism of toxicity of AgNPs.

Figure 14

We tested the sensitivity of N2 and multiple mutant strains with deficiencies in mitochondrial homeostasis genes (drp-1, eat-3, fzo-1, pdr-1, pink-1) to exposure to 9nm (average diameter), amine-coated, positively-charged AgNPs. The graph depicts the relative length of control and treated animals after 72 h of growth from the L1 stage (synchronized), in MHRW, with UVC-killed UVRA bacteria. Error bars represent one standard error of the mean; experiment repeated twice in time, total n = 39–40 nematodes per dose per strain. Because aggregation of AgNPs was observed, we used hyperspectral imaging to verify ingestion after 48 h with a 2 ppm exposure. Ingestion was observed for all strains (N2 shown). Unpublished data from Victoria Harms, Laura Maurer, and Joel Meyer; AgNPs synthesized by Stella Marinakos; Cytoviva images taken and analyzed by Nick Geitner.