Transcript expression patterns illuminate the mechanistic background of hormesis in caenorhabditis elegans maupas

Quercetin induces its chemoprotective effects via hormesis

Quercetin is a polyphenol present in numerous fruits and vegetables and therefore widely consumed by humans with average daily dietary intakes of 10-20 mg/day. It is also a popular dietary supplement of 250-1000 mg/day. However, despite the widespread consumer interest in quercetin, due to its possible chemopreventive properties, the extensively studied quercetin presents a highly diverse and complex array of biological effects. Consequently, the present paper provides the first assessment of quercetin-induced hormetic concentration/dose responses, their quantitative features and mechanistic foundations, and their biological, biomedical, clinical, and public health implications. The findings indicate that quercetin-induced hormetic dose responses are widespread, being independent of biological model, cell type, and endpoint. These findings have the potential to enlighten future experimental studies with quercetin especially with respect to study design parameters and may also affect the appraisal of possible public health benefits and risks associated with highly diverse consumer consumption practices.

Can the properties of engineered nanoparticles be indicative of their functions and effects in plants?

The extensive applicability of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in various fields such as environment, agriculture, medicine or biotechnology has mostly been attributed to their better physicochemical properties as compared with conventional bulk materials. However, functions and biological effects of ENPs change across different scenarios which impede the progress in their risk assessment and safety management. This review thus intends to figure out whether properties of ENPs can be indicators of their behavior through summarizing and analyzing the available literature and knowledge. The studies have indicated that size, shape, solubility, specific surface area, surface charge and surface reactivity constitute a more accurate measure of ENPs functions and toxic effects in addition to mass concentration. Effects of ENPs are also highly dependent on dose metrics, species and strains of organisms, environmental conditions, exposure route and duration. Searching correlations between properties and functions or biological effects may serve as an effective way in understanding positive and negative impacts of ENPs. This will ensure safe design and sustainable future use of ENPs.

Overlooked Risks of Biochars: Persistent Free Radicals trigger Neurotoxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans

In recent years, biochars have gained increasing interest in mitigating climate changes and revitalizing contaminated or drained soil. Studies determining their impact on the ecosystem, especially on soil invertebrates, however, are still scarce and the neurotoxic potential of biochars has never been evaluated before. Using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans we determined the neurotoxic effect of biochar produced from rice straw by pyrolysis at 500 °C at concentrations ranging from 0 to 2000 mg C·L^-1. Biochar had a hormetic effect on locomotion behavior. Furthermore, high concentrations impaired defecation as well as the recognition and response to a chemical attractant. None of the potential toxic chemicals in the biochar had sufficient high concentrations to explain the detected neurotoxic effect. Using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, we detected free radicals in the biochar. Detrimental reaction of free radicals with biotic macromolecules can induce oxidative stress responses and are a potential reason for the evaluated neurotoxic effect of biochar. Overall, we were able to prove that biochars have the potential to act as weak neurotoxins to soil organisms and effects of persistent free radicals should be investigated further.