Investigating Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide's Mechanism of Toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans
Abstract
In recent years, the demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIB) for electronics has increased.
The scientific literature on the toxicity of these lithium compounds is limited, and
it relates mainly to measured organismal endpoints rather than mechanisms of toxicity.
This master's project investigated a proposed adverse outcome pathway (AOP) for one
important lithium compound, LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2 (NMC) in the Caenorhabditis elegans
model, using more mechanistic methods than have been reported in the literature. The
measured endpoints were the estimation of altertions to the oxidized to reduced glutathione
ratio as a measure of cellular redox state, ATP levels, and growth, for wild-type
worms and worms with knockdowns of the human disease genes frh-1 and gas-1, which
encode proteins involved in energy production and redox state regulation. The main
results were that several lithium compounds caused growth inhibition only at levels
of exposure that appear to be high relative to likely environmental concentration;
lithium did not significantly impact the redox state, and there is no substantial
evidence that ATP levels were decreased at levels of exposure that caused mild growth
inhibition, and growth inhibition was not altered by frh-1 and gas-1 knockdown in
a way consistent with the proposed AOP. The main conclusion is that, in C. elegans,
growth inhibition is not likely caused by increased redox stress or ATP decrease,
suggesting an alternative mechanism of toxicity.
Type
Master's projectDepartment
Nicholas School of the EnvironmentPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/27186Citation
Faroud Lopez, Roi (2023). Investigating Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide's Mechanism of Toxicity in Caenorhabditis
elegans. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/27186.Collections
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