ROS-generating/ARE-activating capacity of metals in roadway particulate matter deposited in urban environment

Timor Shuster-Meiseles, Martin M. Shafer, Jongbae Heo, Michal Pardo, Dagmara S. Antkiewicz, James J. Schauer, Assaf Rudich, Yinon Rudich

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this study we investigated the possible causal role for soluble metal species extracted from roadway traffic emissions in promoting particulate matter (PM)-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and antioxidant response element (ARE) promoter activation. To this end, these responses have been evaluated in alveolar macrophage and epithelial lung cells that have been exposed to 'Unfiltered', 'Filtered' and 'Filtered+Chelexed' water extracts of PM samples collected from the roadway urban environments of Thessaloniki, Milan and London. Except for Thessaloniki, our results demonstrate that filtration resulted in a minor decrease in ROS activity of the fine PM fraction, suggesting that ROS activity is attributed mainly to water-soluble PM species. In contrast to ROS, ARE activity was mediated predominantly by the water-soluble component of PM present in both the fine and coarse extracts. Further removal of metals by Chelex treatment from filtered water extracts showed that soluble metal species are the major factors mediating ROS and ARE activities of the soluble fraction, especially in the London PM extracts. Finally, utilizing step-wise multiple-regression analysis, we show that 87% and 78% of the total variance observed in ROS and ARE assays, respectively, is accounted for by changes in soluble metal concentration. Using a statistical analysis we find that As, Zn and Fe best predict the ROS-generating/ARE-activating capacity of the near roadway particulate matter in the pulmonary cells studied. Collectively, our findings imply that soluble metals present in roadside PM are potential drivers of both pro- and anti-oxidative effects of PM in respiratory tract.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)252-262
Number of pages11
JournalEnvironmental Research
Volume146
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Apr 2016

Keywords

  • ARE
  • Oxidative stress
  • Particulate matter
  • ROS
  • Soluble metals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • General Environmental Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'ROS-generating/ARE-activating capacity of metals in roadway particulate matter deposited in urban environment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this