The Cytotoxicity of PM2.5 and its Effect on the Secretome of Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells
Abstract Exposure to airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) induced various adverse health effects, such as metabolic syndrome, systemic inflammation and respiratory infection. Many works have studied the influence of PM2.5 exposure to intracellular proteome and the underlying mechanism. But the extracellular proteome changes under PM2.5 exposure, and the correlation between secretome changes and PM2.5-induced cytotoxicity remains confusing. Herein, the cytotoxicity of PM2.5 on normal human bronchial epithelia cells (BEAS-2B) was evaluated and the secretome profile of BEAS-2B cells before and after PM2.5 exposure was investigated. The secretion of 83 proteins (58 up-regulated and 25 down-regulated) was differentially expressed upon PM2.5 treatment. In addition to apoptosis, extracellular matrix (ECM) organization, complement activation and RNA splicing were also found to be involved in PM2.5 mediated cytotoxicity. These results provide an insight into the underlying mechanism of respiratory injury caused by PM2.5.