Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Induced Gene Expression Biomarkers for Medical and Occupational Surveillance

Abstract

As the demand for multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) incorporation into industrial and biomedical applications increases, so does the potential for unintentional pulmonary MWCNT exposure, particularly among workers during manufacturing. Pulmonary exposure to MWCNTs raises the potential for development of lung inflammation, fibrosis, and cancer among those exposed; however, there are currently no effective biomarkers for detecting lung fibrosis or predicting the risk of lung cancer resulting from MWCNT exposure. To uncover potential mRNAs and miRNAs that could be used as markers of exposure, this study compared in vivo mRNA and miRNA expression in lung tissue and blood of mice exposed to MWCNTs with in vitro mRNA and miRNA expression from a co-culture model of human lung epithelial and microvascular cells, a system previously shown to have a higher overall genome-scale correlation with mRNA expression in mouse lungs than either cell type grown separately. Concordant mRNAs and miRNAs identified by this study could be used to drive future studies confirming human biomarkers of MWCNT exposure. These potential biomarkers could be used to assess overall worker health and predict the occurrence of MWCNT-induced diseases.

Progress in Research on the Role of Flavonoids in Lung Cancer

“…The association of activating RTK mutations, giving enlarged sensitivity and disease response to RTK inhibitors, permitted the development of new approaches for the personalized treatment of lung cancer. The comprehensive epigenetic, genomic and molecular characterization of lung cancer has guided the identification of novel targeted therapies based on natural or synthetic small molecules [5,8]. The major risk factors for lung cancer, like smoking tobacco and exposure to chemical carcinogens, are sustained by an unhealthy inflammatory diet (low consumption of fruits and vegetables and high salt consumption [9]).…”

Transcriptome Profile Alterations with Carbon Nanotubes, Quantum Dots, and Silver Nanoparticles: A Review

“…Previous studies have shown that exposure to CNTs can have toxic effects through the generation of oxidative stress or by inducing inflammation [ 18 ]. MWCNT and SWCNT are two important classes of CNTs, and their underlying mechanisms of toxicity have been investigated using RNA-Seq.…”

“…A previous study in 2014 investigated the correlation and concordance of MWCNT-induced gene expression in vitro monoculture and co-culture of human small airway epithelial cells (SAEC) and human microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC) with gene expression in vivo mouse lung exposed to MWCNT. Snyder-Talkington et al compared MWCNT-induced mRNA gene expression from human SAEC and HMVEC in monoculture and coculture [ 18 , 22 ]. When HUMVEC were cocultured and treated with MWCNTs, there were more concordant genes (both up- or downregulated in vivo and in vitro) than those of monoculture, particularly disease-related concordant genes [ 19 , 22 ].…”

<p>The Applications of Carbon Nanotubes in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Lung Cancer: A Critical Review</p>

“…84 Also, the changes in mRNAs and miRNAs predicted to indicate pulmonary fibrosis in individuals exposed to MWCNTs. 85 As a result, by the advent of CNTs in the field of lung cancer detection, another way was opened in the aspect of the efficiency of these nanotubes in medicine (Figure 3). Besides, the alteration of micro RNAs and RNAs of cancerous cells was acquirable with CNTs.…”