Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Pulmonary surfactant mitigates silver nanoparticle toxicity in human alveolar type-I-like epithelial cells.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Sweeney, S; Leo, BF; Chen, S; Abraham-Thomas, N; Thorley, AJ; Gow, A; Schwander, S; Zhang, JJ; Shaffer, MSP; Chung, KF; Ryan, MP; Porter, AE ...
Published in: Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces
September 2016

Accompanying increased commercial applications and production of silver nanomaterials is an increased probability of human exposure, with inhalation a key route. Nanomaterials that deposit in the pulmonary alveolar region following inhalation will interact firstly with pulmonary surfactant before they interact with the alveolar epithelium. It is therefore critical to understand the effects of human pulmonary surfactant when evaluating the inhalation toxicity of silver nanoparticles. In this study, we evaluated the toxicity of AgNPs on human alveolar type-I-like epithelial (TT1) cells in the absence and presence of Curosurf(®) (a natural pulmonary surfactant substitute), hypothesising that the pulmonary surfactant would act to modify toxicity. We demonstrated that 20nm citrate-capped AgNPs induce toxicity in human alveolar type I-like epithelial cells and, in agreement with our hypothesis, that pulmonary surfactant acts to mitigate this toxicity, possibly through reducing AgNP dissolution into cytotoxic Ag(+) ions. For example, IL-6 and IL-8 release by TT1 cells significantly increased 10.7- and 35-fold, respectively (P<0.01), 24h after treatment with 25μg/ml AgNPs. In contrast, following pre-incubation of AgNPs with Curosurf(®), this effect was almost completely abolished. We further determined that the mechanism of this toxicity is likely associated with Ag(+) ion release and lysosomal disruption, but not with increased reactive oxygen species generation. This study provides a critical understanding of the toxicity of AgNPs in target human alveolar type-I-like epithelial cells and the role of pulmonary surfactant in mitigating this toxicity. The observations reported have important implications for the manufacture and application of AgNPs, in particular for applications involving use of aerosolised AgNPs.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces

DOI

EISSN

1873-4367

ISSN

0927-7765

Publication Date

September 2016

Volume

145

Start / End Page

167 / 175

Related Subject Headings

  • Silver
  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Pulmonary Surfactants
  • Pulmonary Alveoli
  • Metal Nanoparticles
  • Lysosomes
  • Ions
  • Inflammation Mediators
  • Humans
  • Epithelial Cells
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Sweeney, S., Leo, B. F., Chen, S., Abraham-Thomas, N., Thorley, A. J., Gow, A., … Tetley, T. D. (2016). Pulmonary surfactant mitigates silver nanoparticle toxicity in human alveolar type-I-like epithelial cells. Colloids and Surfaces. B, Biointerfaces, 145, 167–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2016.04.040
Sweeney, Sinbad, Bey Fen Leo, Shu Chen, Nisha Abraham-Thomas, Andrew J. Thorley, Andrew Gow, Stephan Schwander, et al. “Pulmonary surfactant mitigates silver nanoparticle toxicity in human alveolar type-I-like epithelial cells.Colloids and Surfaces. B, Biointerfaces 145 (September 2016): 167–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2016.04.040.
Sweeney S, Leo BF, Chen S, Abraham-Thomas N, Thorley AJ, Gow A, et al. Pulmonary surfactant mitigates silver nanoparticle toxicity in human alveolar type-I-like epithelial cells. Colloids and surfaces B, Biointerfaces. 2016 Sep;145:167–75.
Sweeney, Sinbad, et al. “Pulmonary surfactant mitigates silver nanoparticle toxicity in human alveolar type-I-like epithelial cells.Colloids and Surfaces. B, Biointerfaces, vol. 145, Sept. 2016, pp. 167–75. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.colsurfb.2016.04.040.
Sweeney S, Leo BF, Chen S, Abraham-Thomas N, Thorley AJ, Gow A, Schwander S, Zhang JJ, Shaffer MSP, Chung KF, Ryan MP, Porter AE, Tetley TD. Pulmonary surfactant mitigates silver nanoparticle toxicity in human alveolar type-I-like epithelial cells. Colloids and surfaces B, Biointerfaces. 2016 Sep;145:167–175.
Journal cover image

Published In

Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces

DOI

EISSN

1873-4367

ISSN

0927-7765

Publication Date

September 2016

Volume

145

Start / End Page

167 / 175

Related Subject Headings

  • Silver
  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Pulmonary Surfactants
  • Pulmonary Alveoli
  • Metal Nanoparticles
  • Lysosomes
  • Ions
  • Inflammation Mediators
  • Humans
  • Epithelial Cells