Titanium dioxide nanoparticles activate IL8-related inflammatory pathways in human colonic epithelial Caco-2 cells

• Published in: Journal of nanoparticle research : an interdisciplinary forum for nanoscale science and technology Vol. 16; no. 5; pp. 1 - 12
• Main Authors: Krüger, Kristin, Cossais, François, Neve, Horst, Klempt, Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-05-2014; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Activation; Biotechnology; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Cytotoxicity; Differentiation; Exact sciences and technology; Food additives; Foods; Inorganic Chemistry; Kinases; Lasers; Materials Science; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoparticles; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanotechnology; Optical Devices; Optics; Pathways; Pharmaceutical industry; Photonics; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Research Paper; Titanium dioxide; NF-κB; Inflammation; IL8; Titanium dioxide nanoparticles; Nanomedicine; Intestinal epithelial cells; Particle size; Macromolecules; Cytotoxicity; Coatings; Nanoparticles; Proteins; Titanium; Pharmaceutical industry; Nanostructured materials
• ISSN: 1388-0764; 1572-896X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11051-014-2402-6

Nanosized titanium dioxide (TiO
2
) particles are widely used as food additive or coating material in products of the food and pharmaceutical industry. Studies on various cell lines have shown that TiO
2
nanoparticles (NPs) induced the inflammatory response and cytotoxicity. However, the influences of TiO
2
NPs’ exposure on inflammatory pathways in intestinal epithelial cells and their differentiation have not been investigated so far. This study demonstrates that TiO
2
NPs with particle sizes ranging between 5 and 10 nm do not affect enterocyte differentiation but cause an activation of inflammatory pathways in the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2. 5 and 10 nm NPs’ exposures transiently induce the expression of ICAM1, CCL20, COX2 and IL8, as determined by quantitative PCR, whereas larger particles (490 nm) do not. Further, using nuclear factor (NF)-κB reporter gene assays, we show that NP-induced IL8 mRNA expression occurs, in part, through activation of NF-κB and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways.