Biomonitoring of Indoor Air Fungal or Chemical Toxins with Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes

Sari Paavanen-Huhtala; Karunambigai Kalichamy; Anna-Mari Pessi; Sirkku Häkkilä; Annika Saarto; Marja Tuomela; Maria A. Andersson; Päivi J. Koskinen

doi:10.3390/pathogens12020161

Biomonitoring of Indoor Air Fungal or Chemical Toxins with Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes

Sari Paavanen-Huhtala, Karunambigai Kalichamy, Anna-Mari Pessi, Sirkku Häkkilä, Annika Saarto, Marja Tuomela, Maria A. Andersson, Päivi J. Koskinen^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

70 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Bad indoor air quality due to toxins and other impurities can have a negative impact on human well-being, working capacity and health. Therefore, reliable methods to monitor the health risks associated with exposure to hazardous indoor air agents are needed. Here, we have used transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans nematode strains carrying stress-responsive fluorescent reporters and evaluated their ability to sense fungal or chemical toxins, especially those that are present in moisture-damaged buildings. Liquid-based or airborne exposure of nematodes to mycotoxins, chemical agents or damaged building materials reproducibly resulted in time- and dose-dependent fluorescent responses, which could be quantitated by either microscopy or spectrometry. Thus, the C. elegans nematodes present an easy, ethically acceptable and comprehensive in vivo model system to monitor the response of multicellular organisms to indoor air toxicity.

Original language	English
Article number	161
Number of pages	20
Journal	Pathogens
Volume	12
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12020161
Publication status	Published - Feb 2023
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

biomonitoring
C. elegans
chemicals
fungi
microbes
toxins

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3390/pathogens12020161Licence: CC BY

pathogens-12-00161Final published version, 2.43 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Biomonitoring of Indoor Air Fungal or Chemical Toxins with Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes",

abstract = "Bad indoor air quality due to toxins and other impurities can have a negative impact on human well-being, working capacity and health. Therefore, reliable methods to monitor the health risks associated with exposure to hazardous indoor air agents are needed. Here, we have used transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans nematode strains carrying stress-responsive fluorescent reporters and evaluated their ability to sense fungal or chemical toxins, especially those that are present in moisture-damaged buildings. Liquid-based or airborne exposure of nematodes to mycotoxins, chemical agents or damaged building materials reproducibly resulted in time- and dose-dependent fluorescent responses, which could be quantitated by either microscopy or spectrometry. Thus, the C. elegans nematodes present an easy, ethically acceptable and comprehensive in vivo model system to monitor the response of multicellular organisms to indoor air toxicity.",

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note = "Funding Information: This research was funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund (grants 115155 and 116101 to P.J.K. and A.S.), University of Turku (to P.J.K.) and the Academy of Finland (grant 330150 to the CleanSchool project to M.A.A.). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 by the authors.",

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AU - Paavanen-Huhtala, Sari

AU - Kalichamy, Karunambigai

AU - Pessi, Anna-Mari

AU - Häkkilä, Sirkku

AU - Saarto, Annika

AU - Tuomela, Marja

AU - Andersson, Maria A.

AU - Koskinen, Päivi J.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund (grants 115155 and 116101 to P.J.K. and A.S.), University of Turku (to P.J.K.) and the Academy of Finland (grant 330150 to the CleanSchool project to M.A.A.). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.

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N2 - Bad indoor air quality due to toxins and other impurities can have a negative impact on human well-being, working capacity and health. Therefore, reliable methods to monitor the health risks associated with exposure to hazardous indoor air agents are needed. Here, we have used transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans nematode strains carrying stress-responsive fluorescent reporters and evaluated their ability to sense fungal or chemical toxins, especially those that are present in moisture-damaged buildings. Liquid-based or airborne exposure of nematodes to mycotoxins, chemical agents or damaged building materials reproducibly resulted in time- and dose-dependent fluorescent responses, which could be quantitated by either microscopy or spectrometry. Thus, the C. elegans nematodes present an easy, ethically acceptable and comprehensive in vivo model system to monitor the response of multicellular organisms to indoor air toxicity.

AB - Bad indoor air quality due to toxins and other impurities can have a negative impact on human well-being, working capacity and health. Therefore, reliable methods to monitor the health risks associated with exposure to hazardous indoor air agents are needed. Here, we have used transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans nematode strains carrying stress-responsive fluorescent reporters and evaluated their ability to sense fungal or chemical toxins, especially those that are present in moisture-damaged buildings. Liquid-based or airborne exposure of nematodes to mycotoxins, chemical agents or damaged building materials reproducibly resulted in time- and dose-dependent fluorescent responses, which could be quantitated by either microscopy or spectrometry. Thus, the C. elegans nematodes present an easy, ethically acceptable and comprehensive in vivo model system to monitor the response of multicellular organisms to indoor air toxicity.

KW - biomonitoring

KW - C. elegans

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KW - microbes

KW - toxins

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Biomonitoring of Indoor Air Fungal or Chemical Toxins with Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Other files and links

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CleanSchool/Salonen: Discovering safe cleaning for school buildings to reduce harmful chemical, particle and microbial footprint.

Cite this

Biomonitoring of Indoor Air Fungal or Chemical Toxins with Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

CleanSchool/Salonen: Discovering safe cleaning for school buildings to reduce harmful chemical, particle and microbial footprint.

Cite this