A multi-scale approach to study biochemical and biophysical aspects of resveratrol on diesel exhaust particle-human primary lung cell interaction

Wei Zhang,Qifei Li,Xiaoping Sun,Sige Zou,Mingjie Tang,Judy L Jensen,Theodore G Liou,Han Zhang,Anhong Zhou

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-54552-w

Abstract

Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) are major air pollutants that lead to numerous human disorders, especially pulmonary diseases, partly through the induction of oxidative stress. Resveratrol is a polyphenol that ameliorates the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and delays aging-related processes. Herein we studied the cytoprotective effect of resveratrol on DEP-exposed human lung cells in a factorial experimental design. This work investigates biophysical features including cellular compositions and biomechanical properties, which were measured at the single-cell level using confocal Raman microspectroscopy (RM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and partial least square regression (PLS) analysis were applied to analyze Raman spectra with and without resveratrol protection. The health status of individual cells could be effectively predicted using an index derived from characteristic Raman spectral peak (e.g., 1006 cm−1) based on PLS model. AFM measurements indicated that cellular adhesion force was greatly reduced, while Young’s modulus was highly elevated in resveratrol treated DEP-exposed cells. Anti-oxidant resveratrol reduced DEP-induced ROS production and suppressed releases of several cytokines and chemokines. These findings suggest resveratrol may enhance resistance of human lung cells (e.g., SAEC) to air pollutants (e.g. DEPs).

Highlights

Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) are major air pollutants that lead to numerous human disorders, especially pulmonary diseases, partly through the induction of oxidative stress
The Raman spectra at three locations per cell are plotted below an image showing corresponding locations in each cell identified by arrows: cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus
More spectral peaks are observed at different time points in RES + DEP group, compared to DEP group, such as amide I (1660 cm−1), lipid (1451 cm−1), phenylalanine (1006 cm−1), DNA (786 cm−1) and tryptophan (1608 cm−1)

Summary

Introduction

Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) are major air pollutants that lead to numerous human disorders, especially pulmonary diseases, partly through the induction of oxidative stress. Anti-oxidant resveratrol reduced DEP-induced ROS production and suppressed releases of several cytokines and chemokines These findings suggest resveratrol may enhance resistance of human lung cells (e.g., SAEC) to air pollutants (e.g. DEPs). 10 μg ml−1 DEPs can substantially increase the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduce mitochondrial activity[9], which can induce oxidative damage to DNA, proteins and lipids and lead to cell death via apoptosis[10]. SAEC are isolated from the distal portion of the respiratory tract with most originating from alveoli These cells are suitable for investigating the toxicity of DEPs11, because they are derived from structures often involved early in many human diseases of high impact to populations, individuals or both. These work demonstrated the feasibility of using these two label-free techniques as the novel tools to evaluate biomechanical and cellular properties of the cells exposed to toxic air pollutants

Methods

Results

Conclusion