Changes in the human genome and epigenome induced by nanomaterials

Ventura, Célia; Vieira, Luís; Louro, Henriqueta; Silva, Maria João

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/7855

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Abstract(s)

Humans are continuously exposed to environmental toxicants that can have an impact in their health. In the last years, several engineered nanomaterials have been incrementally incorporated in a variety of consumer products, and a major public health concern is that nanoscale materials acquire new properties that may elicit human adverse health effects. For instance, several in vivo toxicological studies have shown that nanomaterials as titanium dioxide nanoparticles, nanocellulose or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) may cause pulmonary adverse effects upon inhalation. Nanotoxicology is a challenging field that studies nanomaterials toxicity, which include the assessment of their potential to induce changes in the genome. Some examples of this assessment, using alveolar epithelial human cells and two toxicological assays, the comet assay and the micronucleus assay, which detect double-strand breaks or aneugenic/clastogenic effects, respectively, will be presented. Moreover, recently, some nanomaterials have also demonstrated to cause epigenomic changes, namely, altered DNA methylation or microRNA expression patterns. An epigenomics study, using next generation sequencing, will also be presented. In this study, a profile of differentially expressed miRNAs was identified in the same pulmonary cells after exposure to an occupationally relevant dose of a MWCNT (MWCNT-7). These differently expressed miRNAs indicated some of the molecular mechanisms of action of MWCNT-7. Moreover, miRNA profiling may be explored as a biomarker for monitoring human exposure. Overall, these findings highlight the carcinogenic potential of some nanomaterials and indicate the need of understanding their potential adverse effects to develop effective risk management practices and exclude or reduce the use of hazardous nanomaterials.