Mediation of PM2.5-induced cytotoxicity: the role of P2X7 receptor in NR8383 cells

ABSTRACT

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a threat to public health. The P2 X 7purinergic receptor (P2X7R) is a modulator that responds to inflammation. Yet the role of P2X7R in the mediation of PM2.5-induced pulmonary cytotoxicity is rarely investigated. In this study, the expression of P2X7R and its effect on cell viability, oxidative damage, apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction and underlying mechanism following PM2.5 treatment in rat alveolar macrophages (NR8383) were analyzed. The outcome indicated that PM2.5 exposure significantly increased the expression of P2X7R, while P2X7R antagonist oATP markedly alleviate the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), Nitrite Oxidation (NO), mitochondrial membrane potential, apoptosis rate, and release of inflammatory cytokines. In contrast, P2X7 agonist BzATP showed opposite effect in PM2.5-treated NR8383 cells. Therefore, these results demonstrated that P2X7R participated in PM2.5-induced pulmonary toxicity, while the blockade of P2X7R is a promising therapeutic approach of treating PM2.5-induced lung diseases.

KEYWORDS:

• PM2.5
• P2X7R
• apoptosis
• oxidative stress
• inflammation

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to our colleagues at the Jianghan University for beneficial discussion and comments. This work is supported by The Young Talents Project of Hubei Provincial Health Commission (NO.WJ2021Q053) and Science and Technology Research Project of Hubei Provincial Department of Education (No.B2021066).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

Methodology, Congyue Xu, Miao Ma; Formal analysis, Xiang Tian, Wenshuang Li; Resources, Yiyuan Xia, Wei Liu, Binlian Sun; Project administration, Qin Ru; Supervision, Xiji Shu.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the The Young Talents Project of Hubei Provincial Health Commission [NO.WJ2021Q053].