Effects of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles on Toll-Like Receptor mRNAs in Human Monocytes

Abstract

For the widespread application of nanotechnology in biomedicine, it is necessary to obtain information about their safety. A critical problem is presented by the host immune responses to nanomaterials. It is assumed that the innate immune system plays a crucial role in the interaction of nanomaterials with the host organism. However, there are only fragmented data on the activation of innate immune system factors, such as toll-like receptors (TLRs), by some nanoparticles (NPs). In this study, we investigated TLRs’ activation by clinically relevant and promising NPs, such as Fe3O4, TiO2, ZnO, CuO, Ag2O, and AlOOH. Cytotoxicity and effects on innate immunity factors were studied in THP-1(Tohoku Hospital Pediatrics-1) cell culture. NPs caused an increase of TLR-4 and -6 expression, which was comparable with the LPS-induced level. This suggests that the studied NPs can stimulate the innate immune system response inside the host. The data obtained should be taken into account in future research and to create safe-by-design biomedical nanomaterials.

Immune Responses to Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications

“…The manuscript reports the molecular mechanisms leading to differentiated macrophage phenotypes in the presence of several metallic NPs and the following inflammatory responses. On the same topic, a research paper by Vasilichin et al shows data on the effects that these types of particles have on the expression of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) in human monocytic THP-1, specifically the Toll-Like-Receptors (TLRs) 4 and 6 [ 2 ].…”

Cancer Immunotherapy and Application of Nanoparticles in Cancers Immunotherapy as the Delivery of Immunotherapeutic Agents and as the Immunomodulators

“…Vasilichin et al investigated the influence of metal oxide NPs on innate immunity by testing TLR-4/6 mRNAs in the human monocyte cell line [ 149 ]. They found that all studied NPs activated TLR-6 expression, while AlOOH enhanced both TLR-4 and -6 expression.…”

Magnetic Characterization by Scanning Microscopy of Functionalized Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

“…The study of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) has shown tremendous technological advantageous features for biomedical applications [ 6 , 7 , 8 ], such as MRI contrast [ 9 , 10 ] and drug delivery systems [ 11 ], to increase efficiency by releasing a specific drug in a target tissue, without possible damage to healthy tissues [ 5 , 12 , 13 ]. In the presence of a magnetic field, MNPs can be driven to a specific location, increasing the drug concentration [ 14 , 15 ].…”