In Vitro Transformation of Fine Particles from a Mining and Metallurgical Enterprise

Introduction: When inhaled, fine particles can cause significant structural and functional changes at the cellular and subcellular levels. Despite ongoing studies of the interaction of particles with individual proteins, changes in the properties of fine mixtures in more complex environments have been poorly studied.
Objective: To establish transformation of fine particles from a mining and metallurgical enterprise in a culture medium containing biologically active molecules.
Materials and Methods: Fine particles smaller than 1 μm (PM1) were used for the experiment. Physical parameters of the initial particles and those after 1, 24, 168, 336, and 744 hours of exposure to the culture medium were measured by dielectrophoresis using an IG-1000 Plus nanoparticle size analyzer (Shimadzu, Japan). The culture medium consisted of bovine blood serum and the Igla minimum essential medium (Igla-MEM) with Earle’s salts and glutamine.
Results: Compared to other time intervals, we established a decrease in the size distribution ranges of fine particles (from 13.04 to 44.52 and from 17.54 to 110.64 nm), an increase in the specific surface area (up to 0.28 and 0.16 nm2/nm3) and diffusion coefficients (up to 2.33 × 10–14 and 1.34 × 10–14 cm2/s) after 168 and 336 hours of exposure to the culture medium, respectively. The distribution ranges, mean size values, specific surface area, and geometric shape of the particles were almost the same before and after the experiment.
Conclusions: The study of solubility of PM1 in an in vitro experiment showed the interplay between fine particles and the components of the culture medium manifested by changes in the physical parameters of the particles over a period of 1 to 744 hours. Time-dependent shifts in the size, shape, specific surface area, and diffusion coefficients of the particles were revealed.

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