Figure 5
Neurotoxicity of silica NPs (long exposure) as measured by the locomotor response (LMR) assay.
LMR during light-dark cycles was conducted on 5dpf larvae exposed between 4hpf–120hpf to silica NPs using concentrations ranging from 12.5 mg/l to 200 mg/l. The data from the first 10 min light and dark periods were omitted (acclimation). 1% ethanol was used as positive control. Experiments were repeated independently three times. The raw data of the total movement per minute time interval of 10 larvae per condition (i.e. different silica concentrations, controls) were averaged and the averages per condition for the combined light (i.e. totally 15 min) and dark conditions (i.e. totally 20 min) of the three experiments pooled. The mean of the control values obtained in dark conditions was set to 100% and the results of the other conditions normalized. Data represent the means and standard deviations (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, two-way ANOVA, Bonferroni correction).
