Effects of soluble copper and copper oxide nanoparticle exposure on the immune system of mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis.
Copper and copper oxide nanomaterials (nCuO) can enter the marine environment negatively impacting mussels, an environmental and commercially relevant organism. We analyzed the effects on the immune system of adult mussels exposed to soluble copper (CuSO4 , 20-50 μg/L) or nCuO (100-450 μg/L). CuSO4 caused significant copper accumulation in gills and cell-free hemolymph, while nCuO caused cell damage to gills and significant copper accumulation in hemocytes, the most abundant cells in the hemolymph. Both sources of copper caused cellular toxicity in hemocytes by increasing reactive oxygen species production and lysosome abundance, and decreasing multi-drug resistance transporter activity. Though hemocyte abundance was not affected, their in-vitro phagocytic activity decreased, explaining the slight (but not statistically significant) increase in bacterial proliferation in mussels exposed to the pathogenic bacteria Vibrio tubiashii following copper exposure. Thus, exposure to non-lethal concentrations of CuSO4 or nCuO can potentially increase mussel susceptibility to bacterial infections.
['Torres-Duarte|Cristina|C|', 'Hutton|Sara|S|', 'Vines|Carol|C|', 'Moore|James|J|', 'Cherr|Gary N|GN|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4556-8789']
D000818:Animals D003300:Copper D005880:Gills D006434:Hemocytes D006458:Hemolymph D007107:Immune System D049878:Mytilus D053758:Nanoparticles D014733:Vibrio D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
copper oxide nanoparticles immune system hemocytes bacterial infection in mussels