In vitro toxicity assessment of atmospheric particulate matter on human lung and hepatic cells with agar membrane-based sampling and exposure strategy

In vitro toxicology research into the health effects of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) depends on the extraction of PM from filters. Previously, we proposed an efficient PM sampling and extraction method based on low-cost agar membrane and performed an exposure study with RAW264.7 macrophages. Here, we extended the application of this strategy, employing lung and hepatic cells, to validate its reliability and reproducibility. One traditional strategy using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filter was adopted for comparison. Cytotoxicity and proteomics results showed that the PM extracted by two methods induced comparable toxicity to A549 and BEAS-2B cells, while the PM extracted from the agar membranes induced higher toxicity to HepG2 and HL7702 cells than that from the PTFE filters. The differences in the investigations might be associated with the cell's sensitivity to the extracted suspended particles. This work indicated the importance of assessing PM cytotoxicity from the perspective of extraction methods and cell lines.

Automated summary

Researchers proposed an efficient PM sampling and extraction method using agar membrane and validated its reliability and reproducibility with lung and hepatic cells. The PM extracted from agar membranes showed higher toxicity to HepG2 and HL7702 cells compared to that from PTFE filters. This work highlights the importance of assessing PM cytotoxicity from the perspective of extraction methods and cell lines.