The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Bioreactivity of a novel poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanocapsule containing atrazine with human lung alveolar epithelial cells

Bioreactivity of a novel poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanocapsule containing atrazine with human lung alveolar epithelial cells
Bioreactivity of a novel poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanocapsule containing atrazine with human lung alveolar epithelial cells
Atrazine (ATZ), a commonly used agricultural herbicide, is potentially harmful to animals and humans. Nanoencapsulation of ATZ (NC–ATZ) within non-toxic, biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) improves the herbicidal activity of ATZ 10-fold and moderates its environmental persistence, possibly reducing off-target ecological effects. These compounds may reach the pulmonary respiratory units following inhalation; thus, we investigated the effect of ATZ and NC–ATZ on an immortalised human lung alveolar type 1-like epithelial cell model (TT1 cells). The concentration-dependent effect of the compounds was analysed by assessment of viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and inflammatory cytokine release. Confocal microscopy was used to visualise TT1 cell-nanoparticle interactions. NC–ATZ caused cellular effects not observed with ATZ or the PCL nanocapsule alone. NC–ATZ significantly increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release at ≥1 μg ml−1 after 48 hours of exposure, peaking at 5 μg ml−1 (3-fold of the non-treated control, ***p < 0.001). Moreover, ≥1 μg ml−1 NC–ATZ was pro-inflammatory at 48 hours, peaking at 5 μg ml−1 (IL-6 release ∼125 pg ml−1; IL-8 release ∼46 pg ml−1). Confocal microscopy of fluorescently-labelled ATZ and NC–ATZ indicated high intensity fluorescence nanoparticle uptake into the cytoplasm and co-localisation in the Golgi, suggesting nanoparticle recycling within 24 hours. We provide evidence that nanoencapsulation of the pesticide ATZ alters bioreactivity, stimulating more necrosis and inflammation in human lung alveolar type 1 epithelial cells in comparison to ATZ or the PCL nanocapsule alone. However, nanoencapsulation improves the efficacy of pesticides, thus lower pesticide concentrations could be used, reducing environmental contamination. Further investigation, particularly with different exposure scenarios, is warranted in order to generate safer nanoencapsulated pesticides.
2134-2148
Moore, Amber J. S.
ddb1afb6-dedf-4878-bd3b-8b34d66ef82b
Dean, Lareb S. N.
41e0c113-ad78-425f-a9dc-60081f8f0027
Yam, Aiken N. K.
1f1291d1-bd4c-4b07-9b91-3e232d2f5100
Lima, Renata de
cd26edd2-da7c-49a6-a523-50d451b7229d
Fraceto, Leonardo F.
2947c1d1-26aa-4429-a961-aaf165d0d34c
Tetley, Teresa D.
85489d1b-9012-451c-97f2-82368c9dd081
Moore, Amber J. S.
ddb1afb6-dedf-4878-bd3b-8b34d66ef82b
Dean, Lareb S. N.
41e0c113-ad78-425f-a9dc-60081f8f0027
Yam, Aiken N. K.
1f1291d1-bd4c-4b07-9b91-3e232d2f5100
Lima, Renata de
cd26edd2-da7c-49a6-a523-50d451b7229d
Fraceto, Leonardo F.
2947c1d1-26aa-4429-a961-aaf165d0d34c
Tetley, Teresa D.
85489d1b-9012-451c-97f2-82368c9dd081

Moore, Amber J. S., Dean, Lareb S. N., Yam, Aiken N. K., Lima, Renata de, Fraceto, Leonardo F. and Tetley, Teresa D. (2022) Bioreactivity of a novel poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanocapsule containing atrazine with human lung alveolar epithelial cells. Environmental Science: Nano, 9 (6), 2134-2148. (doi:10.1039/D1EN01068A).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Atrazine (ATZ), a commonly used agricultural herbicide, is potentially harmful to animals and humans. Nanoencapsulation of ATZ (NC–ATZ) within non-toxic, biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) improves the herbicidal activity of ATZ 10-fold and moderates its environmental persistence, possibly reducing off-target ecological effects. These compounds may reach the pulmonary respiratory units following inhalation; thus, we investigated the effect of ATZ and NC–ATZ on an immortalised human lung alveolar type 1-like epithelial cell model (TT1 cells). The concentration-dependent effect of the compounds was analysed by assessment of viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and inflammatory cytokine release. Confocal microscopy was used to visualise TT1 cell-nanoparticle interactions. NC–ATZ caused cellular effects not observed with ATZ or the PCL nanocapsule alone. NC–ATZ significantly increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release at ≥1 μg ml−1 after 48 hours of exposure, peaking at 5 μg ml−1 (3-fold of the non-treated control, ***p < 0.001). Moreover, ≥1 μg ml−1 NC–ATZ was pro-inflammatory at 48 hours, peaking at 5 μg ml−1 (IL-6 release ∼125 pg ml−1; IL-8 release ∼46 pg ml−1). Confocal microscopy of fluorescently-labelled ATZ and NC–ATZ indicated high intensity fluorescence nanoparticle uptake into the cytoplasm and co-localisation in the Golgi, suggesting nanoparticle recycling within 24 hours. We provide evidence that nanoencapsulation of the pesticide ATZ alters bioreactivity, stimulating more necrosis and inflammation in human lung alveolar type 1 epithelial cells in comparison to ATZ or the PCL nanocapsule alone. However, nanoencapsulation improves the efficacy of pesticides, thus lower pesticide concentrations could be used, reducing environmental contamination. Further investigation, particularly with different exposure scenarios, is warranted in order to generate safer nanoencapsulated pesticides.

Text
d1en01068a - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (5MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 20 April 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 28 April 2022
Published date: 16 June 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: Dr. Renata de Lima and Dr. Leonardo F. Fraceto would like to thank São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, #16/50003-4 and #17/21004-5) and CNPq, and also Dr. Estefânia V. Ramos Campos for the nanocapsule preparation and Dr. Anderson do Espirito Santo Pereira for nanoparticle characterization. Professor Teresa Tetley and Dr Lareb Dean recieved funding from the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Health Impact of Environmental Hazards at King's College London in partnership with Public Health England (PHE) in collaboration with Imperial College London, London, UK. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 457193
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/457193
PURE UUID: d047820d-0b26-45ce-bae1-690f9d477ac0
ORCID for Lareb S. N. Dean: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8703-9236

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 26 May 2022 16:36
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:07

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Amber J. S. Moore
Author: Lareb S. N. Dean ORCID iD
Author: Aiken N. K. Yam
Author: Renata de Lima
Author: Leonardo F. Fraceto
Author: Teresa D. Tetley

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×