Increased Gene Expression in Cultured BEAS-2B Cells Treated with Metal Oxide Nanoparticles

Recent publications showed that metal nanoparticles which are made from TiO₂, CeO₂, Al₂O₃, CuCl₂, AgNO₃ and ZnO₂ induced oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory effects in cultured cells and the responses seemed to be common toxic pathway of metal nanoparticles to the ultimate toxicity in animals as well as cellular level. In this study, we compared the gene expression induced by two different types of metal oxide nanoparticles, titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TNP) and cerium dioxide nanoparticles (CNP) using microarray analysis. About 50 genes including interleukin 6, interleukin 1, platelet-derived growth factor β, and leukemia inhibitory factor were induced in cultured BEAS-2B cells treated with TNP 40 ppm. When we compared the induction levels of genes in TNP-treated cells to those in CNP-treated cells, the induction levels were very correlated in various gene categories (r = 0.645). This may suggest a possible common toxic mechanism of metal oxide nanoparticles.