Role of omics techniques in the toxicity testing of nanoparticles. 2017

Eleonore Fröhlich
Center for Medical Research, Medical University of Graz, Stiftingtalstr. 24, 8010, Graz, Austria. eleonore.froehlich@medunigraz.at.

Nanotechnology is regarded as a key technology of the twenty-first century. Despite the many advantages of nanotechnology it is also known that engineered nanoparticles (NPs) may cause adverse health effects in humans. Reports on toxic effects of NPs relay mainly on conventional (phenotypic) testing but studies of changes in epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome induced by NPs have also been performed. NPs most relevant for human exposure in consumer, health and food products are metal, metal oxide and carbon-based NPs. They were also studied quite frequently with omics technologies and an overview of the study results can serve to answer the question if screening for established targets of nanotoxicity (e.g. cell death, proliferation, oxidative stress, and inflammation) is sufficient or if omics techniques are needed to reveal new targets. Regulated pathways identified by omics techniques were confirmed by phenotypic assays performed in the same study and comparison of particle types and cells by the same group indicated a more cell/organ-specific than particle specific regulation pattern. Between different studies moderate overlap of the regulated pathways was observed and cell-specific regulation is less obvious. The lack of standardization in particle exposure, in omics technologies, difficulties to translate mechanistic data to phenotypes and comparison with human in vivo data currently limit the use of these technologies in the prediction of toxic effects by NPs.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008670 Metals Electropositive chemical elements characterized by ductility, malleability, luster, and conductance of heat and electricity. They can replace the hydrogen of an acid and form bases with hydroxyl radicals. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed) Metal
D010087 Oxides Binary compounds of oxygen containing the anion O(2-). The anion combines with metals to form alkaline oxides and non-metals to form acidic oxides. Oxide
D002244 Carbon A nonmetallic element with atomic symbol C, atomic number 6, and atomic weight [12.0096; 12.0116]. It may occur as several different allotropes including DIAMOND; CHARCOAL; and GRAPHITE; and as SOOT from incompletely burned fuel. Carbon-12,Vitreous Carbon,Carbon 12,Carbon, Vitreous
D006657 Histones Small chromosomal proteins (approx 12-20 kD) possessing an open, unfolded structure and attached to the DNA in cell nuclei by ionic linkages. Classification into the various types (designated histone I, histone II, etc.) is based on the relative amounts of arginine and lysine in each. Histone,Histone H1,Histone H1(s),Histone H2a,Histone H2b,Histone H3,Histone H3.3,Histone H4,Histone H5,Histone H7
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000071696 Proteogenomics The systematic study of annotated genomic information to global protein expression in order to determine the relationship between genomic sequences and both expressed proteins and predicted protein sequences. Proteogenomic Analysis,Proteogenomic Profiling,Proteogenomic Research,Analysis, Proteogenomic,Profiling, Proteogenomic,Proteogenomic,Research, Proteogenomic,Researchs, Proteogenomic
D016923 Cell Death The termination of the cell's ability to carry out vital functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, responsiveness, and adaptability. Death, Cell
D049109 Cell Proliferation All of the processes involved in increasing CELL NUMBER including CELL DIVISION. Cell Growth in Number,Cellular Proliferation,Cell Multiplication,Cell Number Growth,Growth, Cell Number,Multiplication, Cell,Number Growth, Cell,Proliferation, Cell,Proliferation, Cellular
D053768 Metal Nanoparticles Nanoparticles produced from metals whose uses include biosensors, optics, and catalysts. In biomedical applications the particles frequently involve the noble metals, especially gold and silver. Metal Nanocrystals,Metallic Nanocrystals,Metallic Nanoparticles,Metal Nanocrystal,Metal Nanoparticle,Metallic Nanocrystal,Metallic Nanoparticle,Nanocrystal, Metal,Nanocrystal, Metallic,Nanocrystals, Metal,Nanocrystals, Metallic,Nanoparticle, Metal,Nanoparticle, Metallic,Nanoparticles, Metal,Nanoparticles, Metallic
D055432 Metabolomics The systematic identification and quantitation of all the metabolic products of a cell, tissue, organ, or organism under varying conditions. The METABOLOME of a cell or organism is a dynamic collection of metabolites which represent its net response to current conditions. Metabonomics,Metabolomic,Metabonomic

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