Titanium dioxide nanoparticles promote oxidative stress, autophagy and reduce NLRP3 in primary rat astrocytes.

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO-NPs) are widely used in the food industry, cosmetics, personal care and paints among others. Through occupational exposure and daily consumption, and because of their small size, TiO-NPs can enter the body through different routes such as oral, dermal and inhalation, and accumulate in multiple organs including the brain. TiO-NPs cause severe damage to many cell types, however their effects in the central nervous system remain largely unexplored. Therefore, in the present study we determined the cytotoxic effect of TiO-NPs on rat astrocytes. We tested the oxidant properties of TiO-NPs through DTT depletion, and measured oxidative stress-induced damage in mitochondria, through oxidation of 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (HDCFDA) and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) with Mitotracker Green FM. We further examined oxidative stress-derived responses such as IκB-α degradation by Western Blot, NF-κB translocation by EMSA, autophagy induction by LC3-II levels, and expression of the inflammasome protein NLRP3. TiO-NPs showed high oxidant properties and induced strong oxidative stress in astrocytes following their internalization, causing mitochondrial damage detected by ΔΨm loss. Responses against oxidative damage such as NF-κB translocation and autophagy were induced and NLRP3 protein expression was downregulated, indicating lower inflammasome-mediated responses in astrocytes. These results support TiO-NPs cytotoxicity in astrocytes, cells that play key roles in neuronal homeostasis and their dysfunction can lead to neurological disorders including cognitive impairment and memory loss.