Aluminum oxide nanoparticles mediated toxicity, loss of appendages in progeny of Drosophila melanogaster on chronic exposure

Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) have a wide number of applications which cause intentional and unintentional exposure to humans, making it important to understand the nano-bio interaction. In this study, we made an attempt to evaluate the toxic effects of Al2O3 NPs chronic exposure on Drosophila melanogaster. Flies were exposed to Al2O3 NPs at concentration 0.1 and 1mM via ingestion throughout their lifespan and progeny flies were screened for behavioral and phenotypic abnormalities. Behavioral abnormalities in flies were recorded through larval crawling, climbing in flies and two taste testing. Chronic exposure of Al2O3 NPs resulted in the loss of appendages in flies resulting in five legs flies, four legs flies and absence of haltere. Exposure to Al2O3 NPs caused renal failure in flies as observed by swollen abdomen. Our observations clearly showed that these NPs could cause detrimental health ailments which relate to human birth deformities and kidney failure. Damage at the cellular level was studied through proteomic profiling. Three hundred and seven unique proteins were expressed on exposure to Al2O3 NPs and 51 proteins were differentially expressed. Enrichment analysis of differentially expressed proteins showed significant alteration in striated muscle cell differentiation, digestive tract morphogenesis, phototransduction, regulation of chromatin organization and DNA duplex unwinding.