Impact of cellular crosstalk on the cytochrome expression in an in vitro test system relevant for the alveolar barrier
Purpose: For humans, inhalation is considered as the main exposure route to chemicals, which is the reason why lung toxicity studies should be considered as a priority. Inhalation studies are often performed in vivo in rodents. Therefore, in vitro models may represent a valid and efficient alternative to predict the acute toxicity effects of inhaled chemicals on human health.  The models used in this study are really simple in vitro systems either constituted by THP1 alone or THP1 cocultured with A549. This special designed has the purpose to study the impact of cellular cross talk on the THP 1 immune cells when exposed to a chemical which is BaP in the present work. Results: We describe the effects after 48 hours of exposure BaP in order to evaluate the importance of the cellular crosstalk in cell sensitivity toxicological effects of BaP. The set of parameters used to assess this cellular crosstalk included transcriptomics, cell imaging and enzymatic activity. The exposure did not cause any significant decrease of viability; all the parameters revealed the toxicity of the BaP. Regarding the global transcript, among differentially expressed genes (DEG) were found genes related to the enhancement of immune cells. Conclusion: Coculture in the used of in vitro model drastically change the gene expression profile in THP1 cells, but similar effects were observed between the monoculture and the culture exposed to BaP. However the number of altered mechanism in the THP1 cocultured cells exposed to BaP was larger supporting the importance to take into account the cell interactions. Overall design: THP1 mRNA profiles of 48h exposed mono and cocultured with A549 exposed to BaP in comparison to a negative control all in three biological replicates were analysed.