Barrier functions and paracellular integrity in human cell culture models of the proximal respiratory unit.

International audience; Airway epithelial cells provide a barrier to the translocation of inhaled materials. Tight (TJ) and adherens junctions (AJ) play a key role in maintaining barrier functions, and are responsible for the selective transport of various substances through the paracellular pathway. In this study we compared a bronchial cell line (16HBE14o-) and primary bronchial cells (HBEC), both cocultivated with the fibroblast cell line Wi-38, with respect to their structural differentiation and their reaction to cytokine stimulation. HBEC formed a pseudostratified epithelial layer and expressed TJ and AJ proteins after 2 weeks in coculture. Mucus-producing and ciliated cells were foun…

Nitrogen mustard (melphalan) exposure of an in vitro coculture model in the human proximal respiratory system

Inflammatory and cytotoxic responses of an alveolar-capillary coculture model to silica nanoparticles: Comparison with conventional monocultures

Abstract Background To date silica nanoparticles (SNPs) play an important role in modern technology and nanomedicine. SNPs are present in various materials (tyres, electrical and thermal insulation material, photovoltaic facilities). They are also used in products that are directly exposed to humans such as cosmetics or toothpaste. For that reason it is of great concern to evaluate the possible hazards of these engineered particles for human health. Attention should primarily be focussed on SNP effects on biological barriers. Accidentally released SNP could, for example, encounter the alveolar-capillary barrier by inhalation. In this study we examined the inflammatory and cytotoxic response…

Flotillin-involved uptake of silica nanoparticles and responses of an alveolar-capillary barrier in vitro

AbstractDrug and gene delivery via nanoparticles across biological barriers such as the alveolar-capillary barrier of the lung constitutes an interesting and increasingly relevant field in nanomedicine. Nevertheless, potential hazardous effects of nanoparticles (NPs) as well as their cellular and systemic fate should be thoroughly examined. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of amorphous silica NPs (Sicastar) and (poly)organosiloxane NPs (AmOrSil) on the viability and the inflammatory response as well as on the cellular uptake mechanisms and fate in cells of the alveolar barrier. For this purpose, the alveolar epithelial cell line (NCI H441) and microvascular endothelial…

Use of the Cultex® Radial Flow System as an in vitro exposure method to assess acute pulmonary toxicity of fine dusts and nanoparticles with special focus on the intra- and inter-laboratory reproducibility

Exposure of the respiratory tract to airborne particles (including metal-dusts and nano-particles) is considered as a serious health hazard. For a wide range of substances basic knowledge about the toxic properties and the underlying pathomechanisms is lacking or even completely missing. Legislation demands the toxicological characterization of all chemicals placed on the market until 2018 (REACH). As toxicological in vivo data are rare with regard to acute lung toxicity or exhibit distinct limitations (e.g. inter-species differences) and legislation claims the reduction of animal experiments in general ("3R" principle), profound in vitro models have to be established and characterized to m…

Acute Morphological and Toxicological Effects in a Human Bronchial Coculture Model after Sulfur Mustard Exposure

International audience; Sulfur mustard (SM) is a strong alkylating agent. Inhalation of SM causes acute lung injury accompanied by severe disruption of the airway barrier. In our study, we tested the acute effects after mustard exposure in an in vitro coculture bronchial model of the proximal barrier. To achieve this, we seeded normal human bronchial epithelial explant-outgrowth cells (HBEC) together with lung fibroblasts as a bilayer on filter plates and exposed the bronchial model after 31 days of differentiation to various concentrations of SM (30, 100, 300, and 500mM). The HBEC formed confluent layers, expressing functional tight junctions as measured by transepithelial electrical resis…

Influence of organophosphate poisoning on human dendritic cells.

Organophosphourus compounds (OPC, including nerve agents and pesticides) exhibit acute toxicity by inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. Lung affections are frequent complications and a risk factor for death. In addition, epidemiological studies reported immunological alterations after OPC exposure. In our experiments we investigated the effects of organophosphourus pesticides dimethoate and chlorpyrifos on dendritic cells (DC) that are essential for the initial immune response, especially in the pulmonary system. DC, differentiated from the monocyte cell line THP-1 by using various cytokines (IL-4, GM-CSF, TNF-α, Ionomycin), were exposed to organophosphourus compounds at different concentrat…

Gold nanoparticles induce cytotoxicity in the alveolar type-II cell lines A549 and NCIH441.

Abstract Background During the last years engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively used in different technologies and consequently many questions have arisen about the risk and the impact on human health following exposure to nanoparticles. Nevertheless, at present knowledge about the cytotoxicity induced by NPs is still largely incomplete. In this context, we have investigated the cytotoxicity induced by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which differed in size and purification grade (presence or absence of sodium citrate residues on the particle surface) in vitro, in the human alveolar type-II (ATII)-like cell lines A549 and NCIH441. Results We found that the presence of sodium citra…

An impaired alveolar-capillary barrier in vitro : effect of proinflammatory cytokines and consequences on nanocarrier interaction.

The alveolar region of the lung is an important target for drug and gene delivery approaches. Treatment with drugs is often necessary under pathophysiological conditions, in which there is acute inflammation of the target organ. Therefore, in vitro models of the alveolar-capillary barrier, which mimic inflammatory conditions in the alveolar region, would be useful to analyse and predict effects of novel drugs on healthy or inflamed tissues. The epithelial cell line H441 was cultivated with primary isolated human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) or the endothelial cell line ISO-HAS-1 on opposite sides of a permeable filter support under physiological and inflammatory condi…

Acute cytotoxicity and apoptotic effects after l-Pam exposure in different cocultures of the proximal and distal respiratory system.

Abstract Sulphur and nitrogen mustard are strong alkylating agents which can cause after inhalation acute lung injury in the larynx, trachea and large bronchi and can lead to alveolar edema. In our study we tested the N-Lost l -Phenylalanine Mustard ( l -Pam). Therefore we seeded the alveolar type II cell line NCI H441 on the upper membrane of a Transwell filter plate and the endothelial cell line ISO-Has-1 on the lower side of the membrane for the alveolar model and combined the human bronchial explant-outgrowth cells and fibroblasts in the bronchial model and exposed both models with various concentrations of l -Pam. Treatment with l -Pam led to a concentration-dependent decrease of the t…

Cell Culture Systems for Studying Biomaterial Interactions with Biological Barriers

The human body has numerous physical barriers that prevent most harmful or foreign compounds from entering the body. These barriers are formed by unique cell types, which through their location-specific biological cell characteristics prevent compounds from passing between or through them or selectively allow only specific compounds to move across the barrier that they form. Multiple cell types are involved that together form the functioning barrier in a particular organ or tissue. In many cases, in vitro human multicellular culture systems have been developed. These in vitro cell culture models have been extremely valuable in determining the toxic effects of novel compounds on cellular fun…

Side-specific effects by cadmium exposure: Apical and basolateral treatment in a coculture model of the blood–air barrier

Cadmium (Cd{sup 2+}) is a widespread environmental pollutant, which is associated with a wide variety of cytotoxic and metabolic effects. Recent studies showed that intoxication with the heavy metal most importantly targets the integrity of the epithelial barrier. In our study, the lung epithelial cell line, NCI H441, was cultured with the endothelial cell line, ISO-HAS-1, as a bilayer on a 24-well HTS-Transwell (registered) filter plate. This coculture model was exposed to various concentrations of CdCl{sub 2}. The transepithelial electrical resistance decreased on the apical side only after treatment with high Cd{sup 2+} concentrations after 48 h. By contrast, a breakdown of TER to less t…

Investigation of different organophosphates in a human bronchial tripleculture model

Interactions of silica nanoparticles with lung epithelial cells and the association to flotillins

Amorphous silica nanoparticles (aSNPs) gain increasing popularity for industrial and therapeutic claims. The lung with its surface area of 100-140 m(2) displays an ideal target for therapeutic approaches, but it represents also a serious area of attack for harmful nanomaterials. The exact nature of the cytotoxic effects of NPs is still unknown. Furthermore, cellular pathways and the destiny of internalized NPs are still poorly understood. Therefore, we examined the cytotoxicity (MTS, LDH) and inflammatory responses (IL-8) for different-sized aSNPs (30, 70, 300 nm) on our lung epithelial cells line NCI H441 and endothelial cell line ISO-HAS-1. Additionally, colocalization studies have been c…