Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is an important risk factor affecting human health. Therefore, a quick method for finding metabolic targets in situ in ambient fine particulate matter is crucial. In this study, the impact of PM2.5 on human lung epithelial cells (A549) was investigated by Raman spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS)-based nontargeted metabolomics analysis. Raman detection indicated that exposure to PM2.5 reduced the levels of phenylalanine, tyrosine, and nucleotides. Metabolomics results not only demonstrated a significant decrease of the aforementioned metabolites but also added some important metabolite information that could not be detected by Raman spectroscopy. Our study demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy was an in situ, real-time, and rapid detection method for detecting metabolites, especially suitable for the assignment of phenylalanine/tyrosine and nucleotides, which play important roles in cellular growth. Moreover, the metabolic profiling changes observed upon PM2.5 treatment mainly involved phenylalanine, tyrosine metabolism, purine and pyrimidine metabolism, and energy metabolism, clearly demonstrating that PM2.5 can inhibit the synthesis of protein and DNA/RNA and reduce cellular energy supplies, further influencing cellular proliferation and other activities.
Keywords: Mass spectrometry; Metabolic disturbance; Nontargeted metabolomics; PM2.5; Raman spectroscopy.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.