Unconjugated
Epidemiological studies have associated high levels of airborne particulate matter (PM) with increased respiratory diseases. In order to investigate the mechanisms of air pollution-induced lung toxicity in humans, human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE) were exposed to various concentrations of particles smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) collected from Beijing, China. After observing that PM2.5 decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, we first used Illumina RNA-seq to identify genes and pathways that may contribute to PM2.5-induced toxicity to 16HBE cells. A total of 539 genes, 283 up-regulated and 256 down-regulated, were identified to be significantly differentially expressed after exposure to 25 μg/cm2 PM2.5. PM2.5 induced a large number of genes involved in responses to xenobtiotic stimuli, metabolic response, and inflammatory and immune response pathways such as MAPK signaling and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, which might contribute to PM2.5-related pulmonary diseases. We then confirmed our RNA-seq results by qPCR and by analysis of IL-6, CYP1A1, and IL-8 protein expression. Finally, ELISA assay demonstrated a significant association between exposure to PM2.5 and secretion of IL-6. This research provides a new insight into the mechanisms underlying PM2.5-induced respiratory diseases in Beijing.
Isoform-selective inhibitors of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activation have an anti-inflammatory effect by reducing proinflammatory cytokines. Cultured feline esophageal epithelial cells (EEC) of passages 3~4 were treated with hydrogen peroxide and PIK-75. The cell viability was measured by a MTT incorporation assay. The distribution of PI3K isoforms, p-Akt, IL-1β, and IL-8 was inferred from Western blots. The release of IL-6 was determined by ELISA. The cell morphology was not considerably different from nontreated cells if the cells were pretreated with PIK-75 and treated with 300 μM hydrogen peroxide. The density of p110α of PI3K was increased, but that of other types was not affected after the treatment with hydrogen peroxide. The density of p-Akt, when the cells were exposed to PIK-75 and hydrogen peroxide, was diminished dose dependently more than that of hydrogen peroxide treatment only. The decrease of p-Akt showed an inhibition of PI3K by PIK-75. PIK-75 dose dependently reduced the expression of IL-1β, IL-8, and the level of IL-6 compared with hydrogen peroxide treatment only. These results suggest evidence that p110α mediates esophageal inflammation and that PIK-75 has an anti-inflammatory effect by reducing proinflammatory cytokines on feline esophageal epithelial cultured cells.
