Molecular responses of alveolar epithelial A549 cells to chronic exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticles: A proteomic view

Although the biological effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) have been studied for more than two decades, the mechanisms governing their toxicity are still unclear. We applied 2D-gel proteomics analysis on A549 epithelial alveolar cells chronically exposed for 2 months to 2.5 or 50 μg/mL of deeply characterized TiO2-NPs, in order to obtain comprehensive molecular responses that may reflect functional outcomes. We show that...