Neutrophil activation by nanomaterials : comparing strengths and limitations of primary human cells with those of an immortalized (HL-60) cell line.

Assessment of nanomaterial (NM) induced inflammatory responses has largely relied on rodent testing via measurement of leukocyte accumulation in target organs. Despite observations that NMs activate neutrophil driven inflammatory responses , a limited number of studies have investigated neutrophil responses to NMs . We compared responses between the human neutrophil-like HL-60 cell line and human primary neutrophils following exposure to silver (Ag), zinc oxide (ZnO), copper oxide (CuO) and titanium dioxide (TiO) NMs.