Activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in hepatocytes after exposure to cobalt nanoparticles: The role of oxidative stress.

Activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in hepatocytes after exposure to cobalt nanoparticles: The role of oxidative stress. Toxicol In Vitro. 2020 Aug 14;:104967 Authors: Feng S, Zhang Z, Mo Y, Tong R, Zhong Z, Chen Z, He D, Wan R, Gao M, Mo Y, Zhang Q, Huang Y Abstract With the increased use of nanomaterials and increased exposure of humans to various nanomaterials, the potential health effects of nanomaterials cannot be ignored. The hepatotoxicity of cobalt nanoparticles (Nano-Co) is largely unknown and the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. The purpose of this study was to exam the hepatotoxicity induced by Nano-Co and its potential mechanisms. Our results showed that exposure of human fetal hepatocytes L02 to Nano-Co caused a dose- and a time-dependent cytotoxicity. Besides the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS), exposure to Nano-Co also caused activation of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in hepatocytes. After silencing NLRP3, one component of NLRP3 inflammasome, expression by siRNA strategy, we found that NLRP3-related proteins were downregulated in hepatocytes exposed to Nano-Co. Using antioxidants to scavenge ROS and mtROS, we demonstrated that Nano-Co-induced mtROS generation was related to Nano-Co-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Our findings demonstrated that Nano-Co exposure may promote intracellular oxidative stress damage, and mtROS may media...
Source: Toxicology in Vitro - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Toxicol In Vitro Source Type: research