Asbestos-enhanced uptake of carcinogens

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos-enhanced uptake of carcinogens, by J.R. Lakowicz, J.L. Hylden, D.R. Bevan (Nature, 1979).

The study

• Authors: J.R. Lakowicz, J.L. Hylden, D.R. Bevan
• Journal: Nature
• Published: 1979;279(5711):350
• Type of article: Letter
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This item is a short reply letter in Nature, not a full research paper. The authors were answering a comment by W. G. Light on their earlier report that a carcinogen abbreviated BP transferred faster when attached to silica or amosite asbestos particles than when in microcrystalline form. Light proposed that this happened because DPPC vesicles stuck to the particle surface. DPPC is a major component of lung surfactant. In reply, the authors reported ongoing work with natural membranes, namely rat liver microsomes and 3T3 cells. There, asbestos and silica particles again enhanced BP uptake, and asbestos was more effective than silica. The letter gave no numbers and did not name the asbestos type. They cited earlier studies with a related chemical, 1,2-benzanthracene, which showed virtually the same uptake kinetics over a wide range of particle to DPPC ratios. The authors concluded that particle-enhanced uptake could occur in lung cells as well as in lung surfactant. They proposed that particles speed up how fast these chemicals dissolve, while stating that the mechanism had not been elucidated.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Correspondence: the authors' reply to a published comment by W. G. Light on their earlier study; it briefly reports ongoing laboratory work without data
• Who was studied: Laboratory test systems: natural membranes, namely rat liver microsomes and 3T3 cells; earlier work used DPPC vesicles
• Exposure: Asbestos (type not stated in the reply) and silica particles carrying the carcinogen BP; earlier work also used the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon 1,2-benzanthracene
• Main results:
  • Light's comment addressed the authors' earlier report of an increased rate of transfer for BP adsorbed to particulate silica or amosite asbestos, compared with microcrystalline BP. Light proposed transfer to DPPC vesicles bound to the particles.
  • In natural membranes (rat liver microsomes and 3T3 cells), the particles again enhanced BP uptake, and asbestos was more effective than silica. No figures were given.
  • In earlier detailed studies of 1,2-benzanthracene uptake into DPPC vesicles, the authors measured virtually the same uptake kinetics over a wide range of particle to DPPC ratios.
  • On this basis the authors proposed that enhanced uptake results from an increased rate of solubilisation of these chemicals through their association with the particles. They stated they did not mean that particles increase the chemicals' equilibrium solubility.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that particle-enhanced uptake of BP is a more general phenomenon that could occur not only in lung surfactant but also in lung cells
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that the mechanism of the transfer process has not been elucidated
  • The authors stated it is not known whether carcinogens adsorbed to particles are released during contact with surfactant or only after later contact with cells

Related studies

• Asbestos-enhanced uptake of carcinogens — W.G. Light (1979)
• Asbestos-mediated membrane uptake of benzo[a]pyrene observed by fluorescence spectroscopy — J.R. Lakowicz, J.L. Hylden (1978)
• Transport of a carcinogen, benzo[a]pyrene, from particulates to lipid bilayers: a model for the fate of particle-adsorbed polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons which are retained in the lungs — J.R. Lakowicz, D.R. Bevan, et al. (1980)
• Benzo[a]pyrene uptake into rat liver microsomes: effects of adsorption of benzo[a]pyrene to asbestos and non-fibrous mineral particulates — J.R. Lakowicz, D.R. Bevan (1980)
• Effects of asbetos, iron oxide, silica, and carbon black on the microsomal availability of benzo[a]pyrene — J.R. Lakowicz, D.R. Bevan (1979)
• Effects of crocidolite and chrysotile asbestos on cellular uptake and metabolism of benzo(a)pyrene in hamster tracheal epithelial cells — B.T. Mossman, A. Eastman, et al. (1983)

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