Genes and Environment (Oct 2022)

In vivo genotoxicity assessment of a multiwalled carbon nanotube in a mouse ex vivo culture

  • Katsuyoshi Horibata,
  • Hironao Takasawa,
  • Motoki Hojo,
  • Yuhji Taquahashi,
  • Miyuki Shigano,
  • Satoshi Yokota,
  • Norihiro Kobayashi,
  • Kei-ichi Sugiyama,
  • Masamitsu Honma,
  • Shuichi Hamada

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s41021-022-00253-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 44, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Abstract Background Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are suspected lung carcinogens because their shape and size are similar to asbestos. Various MWCNT types are manufactured; however, only MWNT-7 is classified into Group 2B by The International Agency for Research on Cancer. MWNT-7’s carcinogenicity is strongly related to inflammatory reactions. On the other hand, inconsistent results on MWNT-7 genotoxicity have been reported. We previously observed no significant differences in both Pig-a (blood) and gpt (lung) mutant frequencies between MWNT-7-intratracheally treated and negative control rats. In this study, to investigate in vivo MWNT-7 genotoxicity on various endpoints, we attempted to develop a lung micronucleus assay through ex vivo culture targeting the cellular fraction of Clara cells and alveolar Type II (AT-II) cells, known as the initiating cells of lung cancer. Using this system, we analyzed the in vivo MWNT-7 genotoxicity induced by both whole-body inhalation exposure and intratracheal instillation. We also conducted an erythrocyte micronucleus assay using the samples obtained from animals under intratracheal instillation to investigate the tissue specificity of MWNT-7 induced genotoxicities. Results We detected a significant increase in the incidence of micronucleated cells derived from the cellular fraction of Clara cells and AT-II cells in both MWNT-7-treated and positive control groups compared to the negative control group under both whole-body inhalation exposures and intratracheal instillation. Additionally, the erythrocyte micronucleus assay detected a significant increase in the incidence of micronucleated reticulocytes only in the positive control group. Conclusions Our findings indicated that MWNT-7 was genotoxic in the lungs directly exposed by both the body inhalation and intratracheal instillation but not in the hematopoietic tissue.

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