Systems biology approaches reveal low-dose effects of nanoparticles. Systems biology approaches reveal low-dose effects of nanoparticles

Here, we show that systems biology approaches can uncover mechanisms underlying cellular responses to nanomaterials. Using RNA Seq, we found that cationic nanoparticles are capable of triggering down-regulation of cell cycle-related genes in primary human bronchial epithelial cells at doses that do not elicit acute cytotoxicity. Bioinformatics analyses implicated NF-kappaB as a putative transcriptional regulator and functional assays confirmed that cationic nanoparticles caused NF-kappaB-dependent cell cycle arrest. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of applying systems biology tools to assess cellular responses to nanomaterials, not least at low doses.