Rpf Schins

Apoptotic, inflammatory, and fibrogenic effects of two different types of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in mouse lung

There is increasing concern about the toxicity of inhaled multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Pulmonary macrophages represent the primary cell type involved in the clearance of inhaled particulate materials, and induction of apoptosis in these cells has been considered to contribute to the development of lung fibrosis. We have investigated the apoptotic, inflammogenic, and fibrogenic potential of two types of MWCNTs, characterised by a contrasting average tube length and entanglement/agglomeration. Both nanotube types triggered H2O2 formation by RAW 264.7 macrophages, but in vitro toxicity was exclusively seen with the longer MWCNT. Both types of nanotubes caused granuloma in the mouse lungs. However, the long MWCNT induced a more pronounced pro-fibrotic (mRNA expression of matrix metalloproteinase-8 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1) and inflammatory (serum level of monocyte chemotactic protein-1) response. Masson trichrome staining also revealed epithelial cell hyperplasia for this type of MWCNT. Enhanced apoptosis was detected by cleaved caspase 3 immunohistochemistry in lungs of mice treated with the long and rigid MWCNT and, to a lesser extent, with the shorter, highly agglomerated MWCNT. However, staining was merely localised to granulomatous foci, and neither of the MWCNTs induced apoptosis in vitro, evaluated by caspase 3/7 activity in RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, our study reveals that the inflammatory and pro-fibrotic effects of MWCNTs in the mouse lung can vary considerably depending on their composition. The in vitro analysis of macrophage apoptosis appears to be a poor predictor of their pulmonary hazard.

Investigation of the effects of short-term inhalation of carbon nanoparticles on brains and lungs of c57bl/6j and p47phox−/− mice

Recent studies indicate that the brain is a target for toxic carbonaceous nanoparticles present in ambient air. It has been proposed that the neurotoxic effects of such particles are driven by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase mediated generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in activated microglia. In the present study, we have evaluated the effects of short term (4h) nose-only inhalation exposure to carbon NP (CNP) in the brains and lungs of C57BL/6J mice and in p47(phox-/-) mice that lack a functional NADPH oxidase. It was shown that the lungs of the p47(phox-/-) mice are less responsive to CNP inhalation than lungs of the corresponding C57BL/6J control animals. Lung tissue mRNA expression of the oxidative stress/DNA damage response genes 8-oxoguanine glycosylase (OGG1) and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) were induced by CNP exposure in C57BL/6J but not in the p47(phox-/-) mice. In contrast, the expression of these genes, as well as Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNFα), Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) was not altered in the olfactory bulb, cerebellum or remaining brain tissue part of either mouse background. This indicates that neuroinflammation was not induced by this exposure. CNP inhalation for 4h or for 4h on three consecutive days also did not affect brain tissue protein expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, while a clear significant difference in constitutive expression level of this pro-inflammatory cytokine was found between C57BL/6J and p47(phox-/-) mice. In conclusion, short-term inhalation exposure to pure carbon nanoparticles can trigger mild p47(phox) dependent oxidative stress responses in the lungs of mice whereas in their brains at the same exposure levels signs of oxidative stress and inflammation remain absent. The possible role of p47(phox) in the neuro-inflammatory effects of nanoparticles in vivo remains to be clarified.

The role of macrophage mediators in respirable quartz-elicited inflammation

The instigation and persistence of an inflammatory response is widely considered to be critically important in quartz-induced lung cancer and fibrosis. Macrophages have been long recognised as a crucial player in pulmonary inflammation, but evidence for the role of type II epithelial cells is accumulating. Investigations were performed in the rat lung type II cell line RLE and the rat alveolar macrophage cell line NR8383 using Western blotting, NF-κB immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR of the pro-inflammatory genes iNOS and COX-2, as well as the cellular stress gene HO-1. The direct effect of quartz on pro-inflammatory signalling cascades and gene expression in RLE cells was compared to the effect of conditioned media derived from quartz-treated NR8383 cells. Conditioned media activated the NF-κB signalling pathway and induced a far stronger upregulation of iNOS mRNA than quartz itself. Quartz elicited a stronger, progressive induction of COX-2 and HO-1 mRNA. Our results suggest a differentially mediated inflammatory response, in which reactive particles themselves induce oxidative stress and activation of COX-2, while mediators released from particle-activated macrophages trigger NF-κB activation and iNOS expression in type II cells.