Nucleic acid aptamers protect against lead (Pb(II)) toxicity

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Toxicology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Lead (Pb(II)) is a widespread environmental toxin causing significant human health issues.
• Lead toxicity results from cumulative exposure, necessitating prophylactic strategies to prevent bioaccumulation.
• Developing methods to counteract lead's detrimental effects is crucial for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of DNA and RNA aptamers as protective agents against lead toxicity.
• To evaluate aptamer efficacy in preventing lead-induced pathologies in model organisms and cell cultures.

Main Methods:

• Co-feeding of DNA and RNA aptamers to C. elegans to assess protection against lead.
• Behavioral and brood size assays in C. elegans to measure lead-induced neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity.
• Transfection of human HEK293 cells and primary murine osteoblasts with DNA aptamers to evaluate protection against lead.
• Assessment of osteogenic development in cells exposed to lead and aptamers.

Main Results:

• DNA and RNA aptamers significantly protected C. elegans from lead-induced reproductive toxicity.
• Aptamer administration normalized lead-induced neurotoxicity in C. elegans behavioral assays.
• Transfection with DNA aptamers protected cultured human and murine cells from lead toxicity.
• Aptamers maintained osteogenic development in cells exposed to lead, counteracting lead's inhibitory effects.

Conclusions:

• DNA and RNA aptamers demonstrate significant protective effects against lead toxicity in both a model organism and human cell lines.
• Aptamers show promise as a therapeutic strategy to mitigate the adverse health effects of environmental lead exposure.
• This study highlights aptamers as a potential tool for combating pathologies associated with heavy metal toxicants.