The effects of long-term chronic exposure of human lung cells to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and their impact upon cellular proteins and lipids were investigated. Since the lung is the major target organ, an in vitro normal bronchial epithelial cell line model was used. Additionally, to better mimic exposure to manufactured nanomaterials at occupational settings, cells were continuously exposed to two non-toxic and low doses of a MWCNT for 13-weeks. MWCNT-treatment increased ROS levels in cells without increasing oxidative DNA damage and resulted in differential expression of multiple anti- and pro-apoptotic proteins. The proteomic analysis of the MWCNT-exposed cells showed that among more than 5000 identified proteins; more than 200 were differentially expressed in the treated cells. Functional analyses revealed association of these differentially regulated proteins to cellular processes such as cell death and survival, cellular assembly, and organization. Similarly, shotgun lipidomic profiling revealed accumulation of multiple lipid classes. Our results indicate that long-term MWCNT-exposure of human normal lung cells at occupationally relevant low-doses may alter both the proteome and the lipidome profiles of the target epithelial cells in the lung.

中文翻译：

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低剂量和长期暴露于多壁碳纳米管后人肺细胞的蛋白质组和脂质组图谱的表征

研究了人类肺细胞长期长期暴露于多壁碳纳米管（MWCNT）的影响及其对细胞蛋白质和脂质的影响。由于肺是主要的靶器官，因此在体外使用正常的支气管上皮细胞系模型。此外，为了更好地模拟在职业环境下暴露于人造纳米材料，将细胞连续暴露于两种无毒且低剂量的MWCNT中，持续13周。MWCNT处理可增加细胞中的ROS水平，而不会增加氧化性DNA损伤，并导致多种抗凋亡蛋白和促凋亡蛋白的差异表达。对暴露于MWCNT的细胞进行蛋白质组学分析表明，在超过5000种已鉴定的蛋白质中；在处理过的细胞中有200多个差异表达。功能分析揭示了这些差异调节的蛋白质与细胞死亡，存活，细胞装配和组织等细胞过程的相关性。同样，shot弹枪脂质组学分析显示多种脂质类别的积累。