Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Rat Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid after Exposure to Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are one of the most widely used nanomaterials in consumer products and industrial applications. As a result of all these uses, this has raised concerns regarding their potential toxicity. We previously found that candidate markers of idiopathic pulmonary brosis and lung cancer were signi cantly up-regulated in rat bronchoalveolar lavage uid (BALF) following exposure to ZnO NPs by using a liquid chromatography (LC)-based proteomic approach. To achieve comprehensive protein identication analysis, we conducted the two-dimensional gel electrophosis (2-DE)-based proteomic work ow to analyze the di erences in BALF proteins from rats that had been exposed to a high dose of 35 nm ZnO NPs. A total of 31 di erentially expressed protein spots were excised from the gels and analyzed by nanoLCtandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Gene ontology (GO) annotation of these proteins showed that most of the di erentially expressed proteins were involved in response to stimulus and in ammatory response processes. Moreover, pulmonary surfactant-associated protein D and gelsolin, biomarkers of idiopathic pulmonary brosis, were signi cantly up-regulated in rat BALF a er ZnO NPs exposure (2.42-and 2.84-fold, respectively). e results obtained from this present study could provide a complementary consequence with our previous study and contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in ZnO NP-induced lung disorders.