Physico-chemical characteristics of engineered nanomaterials are known to be important in determining the impact on organisms but effects are equally dependent upon the characteristics of the organism exposed. Species sensitivity may vary by orders of magnitude, which could be due to differences in the type or magnitude of the biochemical response, exposure or uptake of nanomaterials. Synthesizing conclusions across studies and species is difficult as multiple species are not often included in a study, and differences in batches of nanomaterials, the exposure duration and media across experiments confound comparisons. Here three model species, Danio rerio, Daphnia magna and Chironomus riparius, that differ in sensitivity to lithium cobalt oxide nanosheets are found to differ in immune-response, iron–sulfur protein and central nervous system pathways, among others. Nanomaterial uptake and dissolution does not fully explain cross-species differences. This comparison provides insight into how biomolecular responses across species relate to the varying sensitivity to nanomaterials.

众所周知，工程纳米材料的物理化学特性对于确定对生物体的影响很重要，但影响同样取决于暴露的生物体的特性。物种敏感性可能因数量级而异，这可能是由于纳米材料的生化反应、暴露或摄取的类型或幅度的差异。综合研究和物种的结论很困难，因为研究中通常不包括多个物种，而且纳米材料批次的差异、实验中的暴露持续时间和介质会混淆比较。这里有三种模式物种，斑马鱼、大型蚤和摇蚊，发现对锂钴氧化物纳米片的敏感性不同，在免疫反应、铁硫蛋白和中枢神经系统通路等方面也不同。纳米材料的吸收和溶解并不能完全解释跨物种差异。这种比较提供了跨物种的生物分子反应如何与对纳米材料的不同敏感性相关的见解。