Carbon nanotubes and crystalline silica stimulate robust ROS production, inflammasome activation, and IL-1β secretion in macrophages to induce myofibroblast transformation.

Pulmonary exposure to inhaled particulates elicits complex inflammatory and fibrotic responses that may progress to chronic fibrosis. The fibrogenic potentials of respirable particulates are influenced by their physicochemical properties and their interactions with major pathways to drive fibrotic development in the lung. Macrophages were exposed to six carbon nanotubes (CNTs) of varying dimensions, crystalline silica, or carbon black (CB), with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 as positive controls.

Carbon nanotubes and crystalline silica induce matrix remodeling and contraction by stimulating myofibroblast transformation in a three-dimensional culture of human pulmonary fibroblasts: role of dimension and rigidity.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a poorly understood pathologic condition. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are nanomaterials with potentials for broad applications. CNTs can induce pulmonary fibrosis in animals, a cause for concern for exposed workers and consumers.

Non-Muscle Myosin II Isoforms Have Different Functions in Matrix Rearrangement by MDA-MB-231 Cells.

The role of a stiffening extra-cellular matrix (ECM) in cancer progression is documented but poorly understood. Here we use a conditioning protocol to test the role of nonmuscle myosin II isoforms in cell mediated ECM arrangement using collagen constructs seeded with breast cancer cells expressing shRNA targeted to either the IIA or IIB heavy chain isoform. While there are several methods available to measure changes in the biophysical characteristics of the ECM, we wanted to use a method which allows for the measurement of global stiffness changes as well as a dynamic response from the sample over time.