American Association for Aerosol Research - Abstract Submission

AAAR 39th Annual Conference
October 18 - October 22, 2021

Virtual Conference

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Linkage between Multiple Cellular Responses with Reactive Oxygen Species Production from Exposure to Biogenic and Anthropogenic Secondary Organic Aerosols

FOBANG LIU, Tianchang Xu, Nga Lee Ng, Hang Lu, Georgia Institute of Technology

     Abstract Number: 350
     Working Group: Health-Related Aerosols

Abstract
Atmospheric aerosol could cause a significant impact on human health. Many toxicological studies have suggested that the adverse health effects of aerosol exposure are linked to oxidative stress through the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Meanwhile, some ROS-independent mechanisms have also been proposed to explain the biological effects upon aerosol exposure. It remains inconclusive as to whether the overproduction of ROS plays a central role in the impacts of biological effects/phenotypes caused by aerosol exposure. On the other hand, given the extraordinary chemical complexity and diversity of aerosol, the toxicity and the mechanisms of aerosol damage may also depend on the properties and chemical composition of the studied aerosol. Here, we employ the Georgia Tech Environmental Chamber (GTEC) facility to generate secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from the photooxidation of biogenic and anthropogenic precursors under different formation conditions. Alveolar macrophages are exposed to SOA and multiple cellular responses are measured, including caspase 3/7 activity, mitochondrial membrane potential, and cellular ROS (etc.). The caspase 3/7 activity plays a key role in apoptosis, and thus it serves as an important indicator of cell health. The mitochondrial membrane potential relates to mitochondrial activity, while mitochondria could be the main organelle in ROS production. Our preliminary results indicate that cellular ROS exhibits different relationships with caspase 3/7 activity and with mitochondrial membrane potential. The cellular response patterns from exposure to a variety of SOA samples and the linkage between multiple cellular responses to cellular ROS production will be discussed.