Toluene diisocyanate: Induction of the autotaxin-lysophosphatidic acid axis and its association with airways symptoms.

Julia Broström, Zhi-Wei Ye, Anna Axmon, Margareta Littorin, Håkan Tinnerberg, Christian Lindh, Huiyuan Zheng, Aram Ghalali, Ulla Stenius, Bo A Jönsson, Johan Högberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Diisocyanates are industrial chemicals which have a wide range of applications in developed and developing countries. They are notorious lung toxicants and respiratory sensitizers. However, the mechanisms behind their adverse effects are not adequately characterized. Autotaxin (ATX) is an enzyme producing lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), and the ATX-LPA axis has been implicated in lung related inflammatory conditions and diseases, including allergic asthma, but not to toxicity of environmental low-molecular-weight chemicals. We investigated effects of toluene diisocyanate (TDI) on ATX induction in human lung epithelial cell models, and we correlated LPA-levels in plasma to biomarkers of TDI exposure in urine collected from workers exposed to <5ppb (parts per billion). Information on workers' symptoms was collected through interviews. One nanomolar TDI robustly induced ATX release within 10min in vitro. A P2X7- and P2X4-dependent microvesicle formation was implicated in a rapid ATX release and a subsequent protein synthesis. Co-localization between purinergic receptors and ATX was documented by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. The release was modulated by monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and by extracellular ATP. In workers, we found a dose-response relationship between TDI exposure biomarkers in urine and LPA levels in plasma. Among symptomatic workers reporting "sneezing", the LPA levels were higher than among non-symptomatic workers. This is the first report indicating induction of the ATX-LPA axis by an environmental low-molecular-weight chemical, and our data suggest a role for the ATX-LPA axis in TDI toxicity.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)222-231
JournalToxicology and Applied Pharmacology
Volume287
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Environmental Health and Occupational Health

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