Dysregulation of Neuronal Gαo Signaling by Graphene Oxide in Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Sci Rep. 2019 Apr 15;9(1):6026. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42603-1.

Abstract

Exposure to graphene oxide (GO) induced some dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs), such as the increase in mir-247, in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We here further identified goa-1 encoding a Gαo and pkc-1 encoding a serine/threonine protein kinase as the targets of neuronal mir-247 in the regulation of GO toxicity. GO exposure increased the expressions of both GOA-1 and PKC-1. Mutation of goa-1 or pkc-1 induced a susceptibility to GO toxicity, and suppressed the resistance of mir-247 mutant to GO toxicity. GOA-1 and PKC-1 could also act in the neurons to regulate the GO toxicity, and neuronal overexpression of mir-247 could not affect the resistance of nematodes overexpressing neuronal goa-1 or pkc-1 lacking 3'-UTR to GO toxicity. In the neurons, GOA-1 acted upstream of diacylglycerol kinase/DGK-1 and PKC-1 to regulate the GO toxicity. Moreover, DGK-1 and GOA-1 functioned synergistically in the regulation of GO toxicity. Our results highlight the crucial role of neuronal Gαo signaling in response to GO in nematodes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / drug effects*
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / metabolism*
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / genetics
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / metabolism*
  • GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gi-Go / genetics
  • GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gi-Go / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Regulation / drug effects
  • Graphite / toxicity*
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • Neurons / drug effects
  • Neurons / metabolism
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / genetics
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects*

Substances

  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
  • GOA-1 protein, C elegans
  • MicroRNAs
  • graphene oxide
  • Graphite
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gi-Go