DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1zcrjdg6k
title: Data from: Assessing PDMS biocompatibility in microfluidic applications: Toxicity and survival outcomes in <em>C. elegans.</em>

description: Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), often assumed to be biocompatible, is widely
 used in microfluidic devices and biomedical research. Here, we
 systematically assess the organismal effects of PDMS network components
 and their leachates using Caenorhabditis elegans as a whole-animal model.
 We demonstrate that uncrosslinked vinyl-terminated PDMS (v-PDMS) chains,
 which comprise the majority of a PDMS network and are known to diffuse
 into aqueous environments, exhibit acute, environmentally dependent
 toxicity. Low-molecular-weight v-PDMS (6 kDa) caused mild lethality in
 nutrient-rich S-Medium but significantly higher mortality in minimal
 S-Buffer, showing that media composition strongly influences toxic
 effects. Adding cholesterol, calcium, or magnesium notably reduced
 v-PDMS-induced lethality, whereas trace metals increased it. Using a
 DAF-16::GFP reporter strain, we show that cholesterol influences
 organismal stress responses to v-PDMS exposures. Progeny from starved
 parents showed full resistance to v-PDMS, suggesting transgenerational
 stress memory plays a role in reducing PDMS toxicity. We also find that
 linear siloxanes cause modest but significant lethality, whereas cyclic
 siloxanes do not. The PDMS crosslinker TDSS, however, provides partial
 protection when present with v-PDMS, revealing diverse biological effects
 among PDMS network precursors. Overall, these results show that
 PDMS-derived components are not universally harmless and that
 susceptibility depends greatly on environmental conditions, sterol levels,
 and physiological history. Our findings emphasize the importance of
 carefully evaluating PDMS formulations for biomedical use and offer a
 framework for assessing polymer leachate toxicity in living organisms.
description: # Data from: Assessing PDMS biocompatibility in microfluidic applications:
 Toxicity and survival outcomes in *C. elegans.* Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.1zcrjdg6k](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1zcrjdg6k) ##
 Description of the data and file structure This dataset contains raw and
 processed data supporting the findings of the associated manuscript. The
 study investigates the toxicity of PDMS formulations to *C. elegans*. All
 data are provided under the Dryad CC0 public domain dedication. \---
 Source data underlying figures in the manuscript. Each file corresponds
 directly to a figure panel. ### Files and variables #### File:
 Figure1b.csv, Figure1c.csv, Figure2c.csv, Figure2b.csv, Figure2e.csv,
 Figure2f.csv, Figure3a.csv, Figure3b.csv, Figure4.csv, Figure5a.csv,
 Figure5b.csv, SF1a.csv, Sf1b.csv: **Description:** Each of these files
 corresponds to a panel in a figure that the name of the file points to.
 All of these files are structured in the same way. The first column
 contains the description of the experimental condition of the row. The
 following columns contain the counts of alive or dead worms in triplicate,
 one for each biological replicate. ##### Variables * alive: Number of
 worms qualified as alive at the moment of counting. * dead: Number of
 worms qualified as dead at the moment of counting. #### File: Figure2d.csv
 **Description:**  Data corresponding to the survival curve in figure 2
 panel d. The first column indicates the time in hours at which the worms
 were counted as alive or dead. This file also contains columns with three
 biological replicates, and it is split into two segments, as raw counts
 (SB, SB+v-PDMS) and as fractional (Control, v-PDMS 6kda) survival.  #####
 Variables * SB : Number of worms cultured in S-Basal counted as alive at
 each time point  * SB+v-PDMS: Number of worms cultured in S-Basal
 equilibrated with v-PDMS counted as alive at each time point * Control:
 Fractional survival of worms cultured in S-Basal counted as alive at each
 time point  * v-PDMS 6kDa: Fractional survival of worms cultured in
 S-Basal  with v-PMDS counted as alive at each time point  #### File:
 Figure3c.csv **Description:** Average brightness values of the pixels
 considered to be part of the worm, for each of the images used to
 elaborate panel c in figure 3. each column corresponds to the experimental
 condition and each row to an individual image in the dataset. #####
 Variables * Control: ASM10 worms cultured in S-Basal * vPDMS: ASM10 worms
 cultured in S-Basal equilibrated with v-PDMS * Chol: ASM10 worms cultured
 in S-Basal equilibrated with v-PDMS plus cholesterol #### File: SF2a.csv
 **Description:** Data for Supplementary figure 2 panel a. Rows represent
 an individual image analyzed  ##### Variables * filename: name of the raw
 image analyzed * condition: Experimental group that the image belongs to.
 * ID: unique identifying number for the image * Nuclear localization
 index: Index used to determine differences in nuclear localization for
 daf-16, calculated as the sum of the brightness of the pixels identified
 as nuclei divided by the  sum of the brightness of the rest of the worm
 pixels #### File: Figure1a.zip **Description:** this folder includes its
 own read me file. The folder includes te csv reporting the area in square
 inches fore each of the images of the PDMS particles. #### File:
 Imaging.zip **Description:** Raw images used for Figure 3c. #### File:
 Daf_16.m **Description:** Code used to segment DAf-16 images for Figure 3c