Background

The response of organisms to nanoplastic exposure has gradually received the attention. Nevertheless, the role of neurons in response to nanoplastic exposure and the underlying mechanism are still largely unclear. We here examined the role of neuronal JNK MAPK signaling in response to low-dose of polystyrene (100 nm) in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Results

Exposure to nanopolystyrene in the range of μg/L could increase the expression of genes (jkk-1, mek-1, and jnk-1) encoding JNK MAPK signaling pathway. Meanwhile, RNAi knockdown of any of these genes induced a susceptibility to nanopolystyrene toxicity. In the neurons, SNB-1/synaptobrevin was identified as the downstream target of JNK-1/JNK, suggesting the alteration in neurotransmitter signals in nanopolystyrene-exposed nematodes. In nanopolystyrene-exposed nematodes, JNK-1 modulated TBH-1-mediated octopamine signal and CAT-2-mediated dopamine signal. TBH-1 and CAT-2 further regulated the response to nanopolystyrene by affecting the function of corresponding intestinal octopamine receptors (SER-6 and OCTR-1) and intestinal dopamine receptor (DOP-1). In the intestine, DOP-1 regulated the response to nanopolystyrene by activating the downstream signaling cascade in p38 MAPK signaling pathway.

Conclusions

Exposure to low-dose of nanopolystyrene could induce the response of neuronal JNK MAPK signaling pathway in nematodes. Our data further highlight the crucial role of neuronal JNK MAPK signaling-activated alteration in octopamine and dopamine signals in regulating the response to nanopolystyrene in organisms.

中文翻译：

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暴露于低剂量的纳米聚苯乙烯可诱导线虫秀丽隐杆线虫神经元JNK MAPK信号通路的反应

背景

生物对纳米塑料暴露的反应已逐渐受到关注。然而，神经元对纳米塑料暴露的反应及其潜在机制仍不清楚。我们在这里检查了神经元JNK MAPK信号传导在秀丽隐杆线虫中对低剂量聚苯乙烯（100 nm）的响应中的作用。

结果

暴露于nanopolystyrene以μg/ L的范围内可以增加基因的表达（JKK - 1，MEK - 1，和JNK - 1）编码JNK MAPK信号通路。同时，任何这些基因的RNAi敲低诱导了对纳米聚苯乙烯毒性的敏感性。在神经元中，SNB-1 /突触顶蛋白被鉴定为JNK-1 / JNK的下游靶标，表明纳米聚苯乙烯暴露的线虫中神经递质信号的改变。在暴露于纳米聚苯乙烯的线虫中，JNK-1调节了TBH-1介导的章鱼胺信号和CAT-2介导的多巴胺信号。TBH-1和CAT-2通过影响相应的肠章鱼胺受体（SER-6和OCTR-1）和肠多巴胺受体（DOP-1）的功能，进一步调节了对纳米聚苯乙烯的反应。在肠中，DOP-1通过激活p38 MAPK信号传导途径中的下游信号传导级联来调节对纳米聚苯乙烯的反应。

结论

暴露于低剂量的纳米聚苯乙烯可能会诱导线虫中神经元JNK MAPK信号通路的反应。我们的数据进一步强调了神经元JNK MAPK信号激活的章鱼胺和多巴胺信号在调节生物体对纳米聚苯乙烯的反应中的关键作用。