Effects of ambient particulate matter on a reconstructed human corneal epithelium model

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 3417 - 12
• Main Authors: Ko, Ryota, Hayashi, Masahiko, Tanaka, Miho, Okuda, Tomoaki, Nishita-Hara, Chiharu, Ozaki, Hiroaki, Uchio, Eiichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 09.02.2021; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Cell surface; Cell viability; Cornea; Environmental effects; Epithelium; Immunofluorescence; Interleukin 6; Interleukin 8; Particulate matter; Zonula occludens-1 protein
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82971-1

We evaluated the effects of ambient particulate matter (PM) on the corneal epithelium using a reconstructed human corneal epithelium (HCE) model. We collected two PM size fractions [aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.4 µm: PM and larger than 2.4 µm: PM ] and exposed these tissues to PM concentrations of 1, 10, and 100 µg/mL for 24 h. After exposure, cell viability and interleukin (IL) IL-6 and IL-8 levels were determined, and haematoxylin and eosin and immunofluorescence staining of the zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) were performed on tissue sections. In addition, the effects of a certified reference material of urban aerosols (UA; 100 µg/mL) were also examined as a reference. The viability of cells exposed to 100 μg/mL UA and PM decreased to 76.2% ± 7.4 and 75.4% ± 16.1, respectively, whereas PM exposure had a limited effect on cell viability. These particles did not increase IL-6 and IL-8 levels significantly even though cell viability was decreased in 100 μg/mL UA and PM . ZO-1 expression was reduced in a dose-dependent manner in all groups. Reconstructed HCE could be used as an in vitro model to study the effects of environmental PM exposure on ocular surface cell viability and inflammation.