The effect of exposure time and concentration of airborne PM2.5 on lung injury in mice: A transcriptome analysis

Abstract

The association between airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration and the risk of respiratory diseases has been well documented by epidemiological studies. However, the mechanism underlying the harmful effect of PM2.5 has not been fully understood. In this study, we exposed the C57BL/6J mice to airborne PM2.5 for 3 months (mean daily concentration ~50 or ~110 μg/m3, defined as PM2.5–3L or PM2.5–3H) or 6 months (mean daily concentration ~50 μg/m3, defined as PM2.5–6L) through a whole-body exposure system. Histological and biochemical analysis revealed that PM2.5–3H exposure caused more severe lung injury than did PM2.5–3L, and the difference was greater than that of PM2.5–6L vs PM2.5–3L exposure. With RNA-sequencing technique, we found that the lungs exposed with different concentration of PM2.5 have distinct transcriptional profiles. PM2.5–3H exposure caused more differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in lungs than did PM2.5–3L or PM2.5–6L. The DEGs induced by PM2.5–3L or PM2.5–6L exposure were mainly enriched in immune pathways, including Hematopoietic cell lineage and Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, while the DEGs induced by PM2.5–3H exposure were mainly enriched in cardiovascular disease pathways, including Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Dilated cardiomyopathy. In addition, we found that upregulation of Cd5l and reduction of Hspa1 and peroxiredoxin-4 was associated with PM2.5-induced pulmonary inflammation and oxidative stress. These results may provide new insight into the cytotoxicity mechanism of PM2.5 and help to development of new strategies to attenuate air pollution associated respiratory disease.