Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (Jan 2023)

1,4-Naphthoquinone-coated black carbon nanoparticles up-regulation POR/FTL/IL-33 axis in THP1 cells

  • Yuan Cui,
  • Zekang Li,
  • Qianqian Xiao,
  • Jianhong Ge,
  • Wanyu Jiang,
  • Xiaoyun Wang,
  • Zhenyu Wang,
  • Yuese Yuan,
  • Yimeng Zhuang,
  • Weidong Hao,
  • Jianjun Jiang,
  • Qinghe Meng,
  • Xuetao Wei

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 249
p. 114381

Abstract

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Black carbon (BC) is an important component of atmospheric PM 2.5 and the second largest contributor to global warming. 1,4-naphthoquinone-coated BC (1,4 NQ-BC) is a secondary particle with great research value, so we chose 1,4 NQ-BC as the research object. In our study, mitochondria and lysosomes were selected as targets to confirm whether they were impaired by 1,4 NQ-BC, label free proteomics technology, fluorescent probes, qRT-PCR and western blots were used to investigate the mechanism of 1,4 NQ-BC toxicity. We found 494 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in mitochondria and 86 DEPs in lysosomes using a proteomics analysis of THP1 cells after 1,4 NQ-BC exposure for 24 h. Through proteomics analysis and related experiments, we found that 1,4 NQ-BC can damage THP-1-M cells by obstructing autophagy, increasing lysosomal membrane permeability, disturbing the balance of ROS, and reducing the mitochondrial membrane potential. It is worth noting that 1,4 NQ-BC prevented the removal of FTL by inhibiting autophagy, and increased IL-33 level by POR/FTL/IL-33 axis. We first applied proteomics to study the damage mechanism of 1,4 NQ-BC on THP1 cells. Our research will enrich knowledge of the mechanism by which 1,4 NQ-BC damages human macrophages and identify important therapeutic targets and adverse outcome pathways for 1,4 NQ-BC-induced damage.

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