Abstract
Exposure to PM2.5 can cause adverse health outcomes. In this study, we analyzed PM2.5 samples collected from suburban and urban sites, including a traffic tunnel in Suzhou, China, for their physicochemical properties, endotoxin contents, and effects on HepG2 and A549 cells in vitro. The greatest cellular responses, including oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, inflammatory, and transcriptional activation of stress-responsive genes (i.e., HSPA1A, GADD45α), were observed in cells treated with traffic tunnel PM2.5. Cytokine expression was also measured and closely correlated with endotoxin content, while other toxic effects were largely related to PM2.5-bound metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These findings suggested that chemical and biological composition of PM2.5, including adsorbed trace metals, PAHs, and endotoxin, may contribute significantly to their toxicity. In addition to commonly used in vitro toxicity tests, HSPA1A and GADD45α promoter-driven luciferase reporter cells may provide a potential new tool for rapid screening and quantification of PM2.5 toxicity.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Dr. Anthony L. Kiorpes for English editing and proofreading.
Funding
This work was supported by the Open project of Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education (grant number 2018GWKFJJ02); the National Natural Scientific Foundation of China grant (grant numbers 81773414, 81673126); and the Youth Program of Reinvigorating the Health through Science and Education in Suzhou, China, (grant number KJXW2017053).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Lili Xin, Jianshu Wang, Jiaojiao Sun, Chen Zhang, Xing Tong, Jianmei Wan, Jialiang Feng, Hailin Tian, and Zengli Zhang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Lili Xin and Jianshu Wang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Methodology: Lili Xin, Jianshu Wang, Jiaojiao Sun, Jianmei Wan; Formal analysis and investigation: Jianshu Wang, Chen Zhang, Xing Tong, Jialiang Feng; Writing—original draft preparation: Lili Xin, Jianshu Wang; Writing—review and editing: Lili Xin, Jianshu Wang, Hailin Tian, Zengli Zhang; Funding acquisition: Lili Xin, Jianshu Wang, Hailin Tian, Zengli Zhang; Supervision: Zengli Zhang.
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Xin, L., Wang, J., Sun, J. et al. Cellular effects of PM2.5 from Suzhou, China: relationship to chemical composition and endotoxin content. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 287–299 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10403-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10403-0