Examining the Effect of Dust in West Texas on Epithelial Lung Cells' Engulfing Process and Cell Death

The City of Lubbock experiences constant dust events throughout the year, during these dust events high concentrations of mineral dust particles are lifted into the air. These small particles (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5) can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause health problems. Located in the Texas Panhandle and with a population of almost 300,000 inhabitants, the city of Lubbock also experiences anthropogenic pollution from transportation and small industrial sources; however, the composition and sizes of these particles differ from the mineral dust brought by dust storms. The objective of this study is to determine the toxicity of the particles during dust and non-dust days and understand the role of the engulfing process using a Single-Cell technique.

Using a Tisch High Volume Impactor, particles were collected during dust and non-dust days. Preliminary results show high amounts of fungus in both types of samples. After the fungi removal process was performed, A549 human epithelial alveolar cells were exposed to different concentrations of particles for 24 and 48 hours. Using the Nikon Eclipse Ti2 fluorescence microscope and the Single-Cell method, cells were tracked to determine the exact time of death and its cause (necrosis vs. apoptosis). Additionally, quantification of engulfing, which was based on the number of particles each cell engulfed, was performed to determine its impact on cell death. Findings from this work will amplify our understanding of what makes dust particles toxic.