The study presented here aims to elucidate the effects of emodin (EO = 1,3,8-trihydroxy-6-methylanthraquinone) in its free form and when loaded into a mesoporous silica nanocarrier SBA-15 (→ SBA-15|EO) on the activities of the main antioxidative enzymes, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione S-transferase, and glutathione reductase, in larvae of a polyphagous insect pest, the browntail moth Euproctis chrysorrhoea (L.). | Turkish Journal of Biology Turk J Biol (2017) 41: 935-942 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Mesoporous silica nanoparticles SBA-15 loaded with emodin upregulate the antioxidative defense of Euproctis chrysorrhoea (L.) larvae 1, 1 2 Milena JANKOVIĆ-TOMANIĆ *, Dajana TODOROVIĆ , Zoran STANIVUKOVIĆ , 1 3 3 Vesna PERIĆ MATARUGA , Ludger A. WESSJOHANN , Goran N. KALUĐEROVIĆ 1 Department of Insect Physiology and Biochemistry, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia 2 Department of Integrated Protection of Forest Ecosystems, Faculty of Forestry, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Leibniz-Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Halle (Saale), Germany Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: The study presented here aims to elucidate the effects of emodin (EO = 1,3,8-trihydroxy-6-methylanthraquinone) in its free form and when loaded into a mesoporous silica nanocarrier SBA-15 (→ SBA-15|EO) on the activities of the main antioxidative enzymes, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione S-transferase, and glutathione reductase, in larvae of a polyphagous insect pest, the browntail moth Euproctis chrysorrhoea (L.). The results show that only SBA-15|EO upregulates the activities of the tested antioxidative enzymes. These results point to significant differences in the effectiveness of the compound in the free versus the loaded form. Key words: Euproctis chrysorrhoea, emodin, mesoporous nanosilica carrier SBA-15, antioxidative enzymes 1. Introduction Emodin (EO) is a secondary plant metabolite identified in 17 plant families, which is mainly present in Rhamnaceae (Rhamnus spp.), Fabaceae (Cassia spp.), and Polygonaceae (Rheum, Rumex, and Polygonum spp.) (Izhaki, 2002). It is distributed in the leaves, fruits, flowers, bark, and roots, mostly in the
