Background

PM2.5 is airborne particulate matter that is involved in air pollution and has become an important problem endangering human health. LncRNAs play important roles in malignant tumors. However, few studies have reported the mechanisms by which PM2.5 affects lung cancer.

Objective

To investigate the functional changes in PM2.5-exposed cells, we conducted tubule formation assays to determine angiogenesis and sequenced RNA to elucidate the key molecular effects of PM2.5 in Shenyang, China.

Results

RNA sequencing showed that the overall exposure values were very similar to the QPCR values. We found that 1379 lncRNA signatures and 162 mRNAs were differentially expressed between PM2.5-exposed and neutral saline-exposed cells. We further validated these changes via quantitative PCR in A549 human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines. PM2.5-exposed A549 cells presented carcinogenic transformation via lncRNA NONHSAT021963, which upregulates VEGF levels. The tubule formation assays showed that PM2.5-exposed cells were more angiogenic.

Conclusion

These results may help to clarify the proteins and signaling pathways affected by PM2.5 and lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in treating NSCLC.