Transcriptomic analysis of cultured lung epithelial cells exposed to multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Mitsui7)

There is great interest in substituting animal with in vitro experimentation in human health risk assessment, but there are rather few comparisons of in vitro and in vivo biological responses to engineered nanomaterials (ENM). We used high-content genomics tools, to compare in vivo pulmonary responses of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) to those in vitro in cultured lung epithelial cells at the global transcriptomic level. Mouse lung epithelial cells were incubated with 12.5, 25 and 100 μg/ml of Mitsui7 and harvested at 24 hours post-exposure. This experiment examined the mouse lung epithelial cell line FE1's response following exposure to Mitsui7 multiwalled carbon nanotubes at three doses: D1 (12.5 μg/ml), D2 (25 μg/ml), D3 (100 μg/ml), and vehicle control. Each dose group was examined 24 hours post-exposure. Each dose group had 6 biological replicates. There were a total of 22 samples included in the final analysis using a two-color reference design.