Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Interact with Macrophages and Influence Tumor Progression and Metastasis

Abstract

Macrophages are one of the most important types of immune effector cells and are closely associated with tumor progression and metastasis. In this work, we investigated the influences of oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (o-MWCNT) on macrophages that are resting in the normal subcutis tissue or in the tumor microenvironment in vivo as well as on the macrophage cell line of RAW 264.7 treated with combination of IL4, IL10 and IL13 in vitro. The o-MWCNT were characterized with SEM, DLS, FTIR, TGA, and UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy, and their effects on the RWA 264.7 cell line and breast cancer tumor-bearing mice were analyzed using the MTS assay, flow cytometry analysis, and histological and immunohistochemical observations. Our experimental results showed that subcutaneously injected o-MWCNT not only induced phagocytosis of the local resident macrophages, but also competitively recruited macrophages from other tissues. These interactions resulted in macrophage reduction and decreased vessel density around the tumor mass, which together inhibited tumor progression and metastasis in the lung. In the cell line model, the o-MWCNT inhibited the ability of the interleukin treated RAW macrophages to promote tumor cell migration as well as decreased their proliferation rate.

Changes in DNA Methylation in Mouse Lungs after a Single Intra-Tracheal Administration of Nanomaterials

“…Our findings agree with previous studies showing that NM exposure changed macrophage and neutrophil concentrations and engulfed the exposed NM after intra-tracheal instillation in vivo [27–29]. Macrophages invade lung interstices for cleaning function and take different phenotypes based on environmental signals, which might lead to pulmonary pathologies [30]. …”

Different Cellular Response of Human Mesothelial Cell MeT-5A to Short-Term and Long-Term Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Exposure

“…It is reported that long MWCNT (20 μ m) reduced the migratory capacity in primary human alveolar macrophages (AMs) along with increased expression of MARCO [ 23 ]. In contrast, MWCNT promoted cell migration in RAW263.7 macrophage cell lines and human microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC) [ 24 , 25 ]. Our previous study also showed an increasing migration capacity of A549 cells after MWCNT exposure for 24 h at 30 μ g/mL [ 12 ], consistent with the finding in Pacurari et al's study [ 26 ].…”

Photothermal ablation of bone metastasis of breast cancer using PEGylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes

“…Thirdly, although we studied the effects of MWNTs-associated photothermal therapy on tumor growth and cancer-induced bone destruction, we did not address the effects on other tumor-related factors, like macrophages. According to Yang et al , macrophages influenced by MWNTs plays an important role in the tumor progression and metastasis 31 . Thus, we should take macrophages into account in the further research.…”