14. 02. 2023
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A new study entitled “High aspect ratio nanomaterial-induced macrophage polarization is mediated by changes in miRNA levels” has been published in the prestigious journal Frontiers in Immunology (IF 8.786), the official journal of the International Union of Immunological Societies. The principal investigators were scientists from the National Institute of Occupational Health in Oslo. Scientists from the IEM CAS, namely Táňa Závodná and Jan Topinka from the Department of Genetic Toxicology and Epigenetics, and other foreign institutions also participated in the study.
This study aimed to investigate the immunomodulating properties of two industrially relevant high aspect ratio nanomaterials, namely nanocellulose and multiwalled carbon nanotubes, in an alveolar macrophage model. The research results illustrate that the investigated nanomaterials trigger phenotypic changes in alveolar macrophages, where nanocellulose exposure leads to enhanced M1 phenotype and multiwalled carbon nanotube promotes M2 phenotype. Furthermore, nanomaterials exposure induced more prominent epigenetic regulatory events with changes in the expression of histone modification and DNA methylation enzymes as well as in miRNA transcript levels. Together, these data support the importance of macrophage phenotypic changes in the onset and resolution of inflammation and identify epigenetic patterns in macrophages which may be critical in nanomaterial-induced inflammation and fibrosis.
The full study can be found on the website www.frontiersin.org (open in a new window).