Background: The adverse health effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure are associated with marked inflammatory responses. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) have immunosuppressive effects, and ADSC transplantation could attenuate pulmonary fibrosis in different animal disease models. However, whether ADSCs affect PM2.5-induced lung injury has not been investigated.
Method: C57BL/6 mice were exposed to PM2.5 every other day via intratracheal instillation for 4 weeks. After that, the mice received tail vein injections of ADSCs every 2 weeks.
Results: ADSC transplantation significantly attenuated systemic and pulmonary inflammation, cardiac dysfunction, fibrosis, and cell death in PM2.5-exposed mice. RNA-sequencing results and bioinformatic analysis suggested that the downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were mainly enriched in inflammatory and immune pathways. Moreover, ADSC transplantation attenuated PM2.5-induced cell apoptosis and pyroptosis in the lungs and hearts.
Conclusion: ADSCs protect against PM2.5-induced adverse health effects through attenuating pulmonary inflammation and cell death. Our findings suggest that ADSC transplantation may be a potential therapeutic approach for severe air pollution-associated diseases.
Keywords: Adipose-derived stem cells; PM2.5; Pyroptosis; inflammation.