Transcriptomic analysis of mouse lung tissue 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. Mice were exposed via a single intratracheal instillation to 18, 54 or 162 μg of Mitsui7 and samples were collected at 24 hours post-instillation. This experiment examined the pulmonary transcriptional response of female C57BL/6 mice exposed to Mitsui7 multiwalled carbon nanotubes at three doses: D1 (18 μg), D2 (54 μg), D3 (162 μg), 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.