Fine urban atmospheric particulate matter modulates inflammatory gene and protein expression in human bronchial epithelial cells.

Ambient particulate matter (PM) is known to induce inflammation in the respiratory tract of exposed subjects. The aim of the present study was to detect, in bronchial epithelial cells, candidate inflammatory genes exhibiting transcriptional modifications following urban PM2.5 exposure. Paris urban PM2.5 sampled either at a curbside or a background station in winter and in summer was tested in comparison with diesel exhaust particles (DEP) at 10 microg/cm2 on human bronchial epithelial (16-HBE) cells (18 h of exposure). The gene profiling study performed using a 375 cDNA cytokine expression array highlighted the differential expression of certain genes, three of which were selected as genes of interest: the IL-1 alpha cytokine, the GRO-alpha chemokine, and amphiregulin, a ligand of the EGF receptor. Their increased expression was confirmed by RT-PCR and/or by Northern blotting in bronchial epithelial cells. In the culture medium of particle-treated cultures, increased release of GRO-alpha and amphiregulin was shown. The particle component responsible for protein release varied for the two genes. The organic extract seemed to be mainly involved in amphiregulin expression and secretion, whereas both the aqueous and organic extracts induced GRO-alpha release. In conclusion, in bronchial epithelial cells, Paris PM2.5 increased mRNA and protein expression of GRO-alpha and AR involved in the chemoattraction process and bronchial remodeling, respectively.