Nano-CuO causes cell damage through activation of dose-dependent autophagy and mitochondrial lncCyt b-AS/ND5-AS/ND6-AS in SH-SY5Y cells.

Metal copper oxide nanoparticles (nano-CuO) are under mass production and have been widely utilized in many fields including catalysis, gas sensors, semiconductor materials, etc. The broad applications of nano-CuO have increased the possibility of risk to incidental exposure to the environment, and therefore, an in-depth investigation of their effects on live cells is required. This study investigated the impact of the nano-CuO on SH-SY5Y cells, and findings showed that the ratio of LC3-II/LC3-I was significantly increased in SH-SY5Y cells when the cells were treated with nano-CuO. However, if the autophagy inhibitor Bafilomycin A1 (Baf A1) was co-treated, the ratio of LC3-II/LC3-I was further improved. These outcomes might indicate that autophagy flux was permanently elevated by adding nano-CuO. Further results found highly activated levels of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) under nano-CuO treatment. The data illustrate a mechanism that nano-CuO can promote autophagy and activate lncCyt b-AS/ND5-AS/ND6-AS in SH-SY5Y cells and have critical implications for nanoparticle biomedical applications.